This Rwandan single producer returns with a washed Red Bourbon that tastes super jammy, with hints of mandarin and blood orange.
Andre has worked in coffee for over 40 years. He is a founding member of the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative and remains active as a member – he even works at the cooperative in the off-season by providing support with maintenance and improvements outside of the harvest.
Andre is an industrious coffee farmer; over time, he has gradually saved and acquired more land and planted more trees. Today he owns over 3,000 coffee trees and produces around 16 tonnes of coffee cherry per season, making him one of Dukunde Kawa’s biggest producing members. Andre employs eight workers during the harvest to help him with picking. The pickers are trained to select only the ripest cherries for harvest and do several passes throughout the season to ensure quality standards are met.
Andre farms 100% organically. He uses manure from his pigs and cow to fertilise his trees and has planted pumpkins and banana trees to prevent erosion and keep the soil moist. His wife, Anathal Mukawiza, works closely with him on the farm and the couple take great pride in their work and their coffee, which they see as an important investment in their family’s future.
Most of the coffees sourced from Rwanda are traceable back to a washing station, or sometimes a farmer group. The majority of washing stations in Rwanda receive cherry from hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of farmers who own very small plots of land – on average less than a quarter hectare, with just 300-600 coffee trees. Separation of such tiny lots is expensive and impractical, so the large majority of coffees are processed as a mixed lot from multiple producers. Typically, lots are separated as day lots (ie. cherries that were all picked on the same day) rather than by a single farm or producer group.
Single farm micro-lots like this one are extremely rare. In this case, it is made possible due to the size of Andre and Anathal’s farm, which totals 1.3 hectares. Andre is also a member of the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative, which has its own dry mill, allowing them to process smaller lots individually, whilst minimising cost and maintaining excellent quality standards.
