Flavor and Aroma Profile Description of Rwanda Mushonyi Washing Station Bourbon Specialty Coffee Beans

Flavor Notes for This Batch

Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, and honey. Outstanding sweetness and balance, with a cinnamon, almond, and chocolate finish.

Rwanda West Province Rutsiro Mushonyi CWS Bourbon

Country: Rwanda

Region: Western Province, Rutsiro

Altitude: 1827 meters

Rainfall: >1500mm

Processing Method: Washed, sun-dried on raised African beds

Variety: BM-139 (Bourbon)

Processing Station: Mushonyi Washing Station

Farm Owners: 1756 smallholder member farmers (each cultivating roughly 253 trees)

Flavor Profile: Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, honey

The Mushonyi Washing Station's competition record is genuinely impressive. Beyond winning the Cup of Excellence championship in 2010, it took four placements in 2011 alone: 1st, 12th, 16th, and 28th place!

Rwanda has quickly become one of East Africa's most exciting specialty coffee origins. Alongside the lingering memory of its tragic history, the quality of its specialty coffee has improved at a remarkable pace. Over the past year we have cupped several Rwandan coffees with refreshing textures and a very elegant, beautiful acidity.

As in many African countries, Rwandan coffee is grown mainly by smallholder farmers. During each year's harvest, farmers pick ripe cherries and deliver them to processing stations. First, manual sorting ensures that no unripe or damaged fruit slips through. The skin is then removed, and the beans undergo a 12-18 hour washed fermentation in a cool, low-temperature environment before the remaining mucilage is washed away in grading channels. On the raised drying beds, station staff turn the beans by hand and watch them carefully, making sure the parchment dries evenly in the sun without losing moisture too fast, until the moisture content of the green beans stabilizes below 14%.

We have introduced several specialty coffees from Rwanda's Nyamasheke region in the past. This carefully selected Mushonyi lot comes from Rutsiro, which lies just north of Nyamasheke and likewise sits on the shores of Lake Kivu. High altitude, fertile volcanic soil, and an excellent climate combine to create outstanding coffee quality, and we will keep exploring this gem of a region. This batch is a direct-trade purchase from the washing station — fresh crop from the 2015 harvest season, which runs from roughly June to September.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the clean, bright character of this washed Bourbon appeals to you, FrontStreet's Yirgacheffe Guodingding Cooperative coffee is well worth trying. Guodingding is a skilled processing team from Guodingding village in Yirgacheffe — a name most coffee lovers know, even if fewer realize that local smallholder farmers send their cherries to cooperatives like this one for unified processing. The team's meticulous washed approach lets the coffee show jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity to the fullest.

Roasted medium-light, it unfolds further into green tea and honey notes, and it performs beautifully across brew methods — pour-over, cold brew, and espresso alike. For fans of washed specialty beans with lifted, delicate flavors, it is an easy and rewarding choice.