Jordy, from Osito (the importing company bringing this coffee, believes “this is one of the first seasons for naming a lot from Kinyovu Hill, a mountain near the Heza Washing Station in Kayanza.” However, he notes that a small amount of cherries in this lot come from neighbouring Gishubi and Mutana Hill.
Looking down from the top of the Heza Washing Station site (where this coffee was processed). The top end is next to the road and where all cherries are delivered, sorted and weighed, as well as the warehouse for storing dried parchment until milling. Coffee is walked up and around this hill through the various stages of processing—strong legs and big lungs required! (Image by David - Osito)
The cherries in this lot were delivered to the Heza Washing Station, which processes them by pumping spring water from a nearby natural spring. Upon arrival, these were hand-sorted for ripeness, then mechanically pulped and double-fermented in open concrete tanks: the parchment spent around 12 hours dry fermenting, then underwent a 24-hour wet fermentation. This parchment is sometimes ‘footed’ after fermentation, which helps loosen any remaining mucilage clinging to it.
Then, the parchment was rinsed in fresh water, graded by density and left to soak for another 4-6 hours in the final rinse tank. Later, it was carried to covered drying tables where it spent 2 days pre-drying (during this time, it was hand-picked for under-ripeness, over-ripeness, insect damage and visual defects). Finally, it was moved to traditional African raised tables where it spent 26 slow drying until it reached the ideal 10.5% moisture level.
