Rwanda Washed Bourbon Coffee Bean Characteristics and Rwanda Washed Bourbon Coffee Brewing Methods

Bourbon coffee (French: Cafe Bourbon) is produced from Arabica Bourbon cultivar trees. Bourbon was first cultivated on Reunion, which was also called Bourbon Island (Ile Bourbon) before 1789. It was later taken up by France and connected to the African continent and Latin America. Today it is one of the two most widely grown Arabica coffee groups in the world. Bourbon coffee is typically grown at altitudes of 3,500 to 6,500 feet (1,062-1,972 meters).

Bourbon Coffee Characteristics

Variety: Bourbon

Related: Heirloom variety

Origin: Bourbon Island

Best grown at: 800 meters and above

Type: Heirloom variety

Commonly found in: Suitable coffee-growing regions worldwide

Main color: Red, yellow, and orange, but primarily red

Fruit size: Medium

Leaf characteristics: Broad and short

Processing method: Washed, dried on raised African beds

Rwanda Coffee Processing

Like many African countries, Rwanda's coffee is produced primarily by small-scale farmers. During the annual harvest, farmers gather ripe cherries and send them to processing stations. The ripe berries are concentrated at the stations for treatment. First, manual selection ensures no unripe or damaged fruit is mixed in. Next, the fruit skin is removed, followed by a 12-18 hour washed fermentation in a cool, low-temperature environment. The attached mucilage is then cleaned thoroughly in channels. During drying on raised beds, station members turn and tend the beans by hand, ensuring that under sufficient sunlight the parchment beans do not lose moisture too quickly or dry unevenly, until the bean's moisture content stabilizes below 14%.

Brewing Recommendations

Hand-pour Rwanda: 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (Fuji Royal grinder #3.5), V60 dripper, water temperature 90-92°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops halfway, then slowly pour until reaching 225g total. Avoid the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Mushonyi Coffee - A Premium Selection

We have imported several specialty coffees from the Nyamasheke region of Rwanda. This carefully selected Mushonyi comes from the Rutsiro region, north of Nyamasheke and also on the shore of Lake Kivu. High altitude, fertile volcanic soil, and an excellent climate create premium coffee quality. We will continue to explore this gem-like producing region of Rwanda in depth. This batch is a direct trade lot purchased from the processing plant: the latest fresh harvest from the 2015 season (approximately June to September).

Coffee Details

Variety: BM-139 (Bourbon)

Processing Station: Mushonyi Washing Station

Farm Owners: 1,756 member smallholders (each smallholder farms approximately 253 trees)

Flavor: Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, honey

[Mushonyi Washing Station's award record is truly impressive. Besides winning the Cup of Excellence championship in 2010, it secured four positions in 2011 alone: championship, 12th place, 16th place, and 28th place.]

Rwanda's Rising Coffee Excellence

Rwanda can be described as a rapidly developing specialty coffee-producing country in East Africa. In addition to the fresh memory of its tragic genocide, the quality of its specialty coffee has improved quickly. This year we cupped several Rwandan coffees with fresh textures and very elegant, refined acidity that are worth noting.

Flavor Review of This Batch

Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, and honey, with excellent sweetness and balance, and cinnamon, almond, and chocolate notes in the aftertaste.

Product Information

Factory Name: FrontStreet Coffee

Ingredients: In-house roasted

Shelf Life: 30 days

Net Weight: 227g

Package Type: Bulk

Taste Profile: Sweet coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans

Contains Sugar: Sugar-free

Origin: Rwanda

Coffee Type: Other

Origin Information

Rwanda West Province Rutsiro Mushonyi CWS Bourbon

Country: Rwanda

Region: Western Province, Rutsiro District

Altitude: 1,827 meters

Rainfall: >1,500mm

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Washed processing is a traditional method that uses water to handle the coffee fruit. It usually involves flotation, removal of the pulp, soaking and fermentation to break down the mucilage, washing or further soaking, drying, and finally hulling to produce the green bean. Because the beans sit in water for a long time, chemical changes occur inside them that consume much of the monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose, lowering the sugar content while increasing various organic acids. Washed coffees therefore tend to keep more of the bean's own aroma while showing bright fruit acidity and a clean, fresh character, which is exactly the profile of this Rwandan lot.

Many people know Yirgacheffe but do not know that, because local farms are small, cherries are sent to a cooperative for centralized processing and sale. FrontStreet Coffee's Gudingding Cooperative is one such team, from Gudingding village, with skilled processing experience; its output was discovered and became famous precisely for being especially refined and clean. Because it uses washed processing, it expresses jasmine fragrance and bright citrus acidity to the fullest, and after a medium-light roast it takes on green tea and honey character, suiting pour-over, cold brew, and espresso alike. Another benchmark of the washed style is FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Small Tomato, since Kenya is particularly skilled at double-washed processing. Repeating the washing stage, with flotation, soaking, rinsing, soaking again, drying, and hulling, presents the juice character at its most vivid.

Washed processing also explains why Jamaican Blue Mountain tastes the way it does. Jamaica, one of the world's best-known coffee countries at the time, suffered from a lack of sunshine; being an island climate, it receives fewer sunlight hours than other origins. To reduce the risk of the beans deteriorating, the washed method was adopted, because removing skin, pulp, and mucilage before drying reduces the moisture around the bean and shortens drying time, producing bright beans with a low defect rate. The method preserves Blue Mountain's rich aroma and lets it show pure hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel notes with a balanced body, in which no single taste dominates or is missing.