What Does Washed Bourbon from Rwanda Taste Like and How to Brew Rwandan Coffee

Pour-over Rwanda: 15g of coffee at a medium-fine grind (Fuji ghost tooth burrs, setting 3.5), a V60 dripper, and water at 90-92°C. Start with a 30g bloom and let it sit for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and pause; once the water level drops halfway, continue pouring slowly up to 225g, avoiding the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Address: No. 10 Bao'an Qian Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Contact: 020-38364473
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf life: 30 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste profile: Sweet
Coffee bean state: Roasted beans
Sugar content: Sugar-free
Origin: Rwanda
Coffee type: Other

Coffee Details

Rwanda West Province Rutsiro Mushonyi CWS Bourbon

Country: Rwanda
Region: Western Province, Rutsiro Region
Altitude: 1,827 meters
Rainfall: >1,500mm

Bourbon Variety

Bourbon coffee (French: Café Bourbon) comes from Arabica trees of the Bourbon variety. It was first cultivated on Réunion Island — known as Bourbon Island (Île Bourbon) before 1789 — and later spread, via French occupation, to the African continent and Latin America. Today it is grown in two of the world's most important Arabica regions, typically at altitudes of 3,500 to 6,500 feet (1,062-1,972 meters).

Variety: Bourbon
Classification: Heirloom variety
Origin: Bourbon Island
Optimal growing altitude: 800 meters and above
Type: Heirloom variety
Commonly found in: Various coffee-growing regions worldwide
Primary fruit color: Red, yellow, and orange, but predominantly red
Fruit size: Medium
Leaf characteristics: Broad and short
Processing method: Washed, sun-dried on raised African beds

Rwanda Coffee Processing

Like many African countries, Rwanda's coffee comes primarily from small-scale farmers. During the annual harvest, growers gather ripe cherries and deliver them to processing stations. The cherries are first sorted by hand so that no unripe or damaged fruit slips through; the pulp is then removed, and the beans undergo 12-18 hours of washed fermentation in a cool, low-temperature environment. The mucilage is rinsed away completely in washing channels. While the beans dry on raised beds, station staff turn them by hand, carefully guarding against moisture loss or uneven drying under full sun, until the moisture content stabilizes below 14%.

FrontStreet Coffee has introduced several specialty coffees from Rwanda's Nyamasheke region before. This carefully selected Mushonyi lot comes from the Rutsiro region, just north of Nyamasheke and likewise on the shores of Lake Kivu. High altitude, fertile volcanic soil, and excellent climate conditions produce outstanding coffee here, and we will keep exploring this gem of a coffee region. This batch was purchased directly from the washing station — the freshest lot of the 2015 harvest season (roughly June to September).

Batch Details

Variety: BM-139 (Bourbon)
Processing station: Mushonyi Washing Station
Farm owners: 1,756 member smallholder farmers (each smallholder farms approximately 253 trees)
Flavor profile: Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, honey

The Mushonyi Washing Station's award record is truly impressive: besides winning the Cup of Excellence championship in 2010, in 2011 alone it took first, 12th, 16th, and 28th place with four different batches.

Rwanda is one of the East African specialty coffee origins that has developed fastest in recent years. Beyond the lingering memory of the tragic Rwandan genocide, the country's specialty coffee quality has improved remarkably quickly. This year we have cupped several Rwandan coffees with fresh, clean textures and very elegant, beautiful acidity.

Flavor Notes for This Batch:

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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If a clean, washed Rwandan like this is your style, the Hario V60 is the brewer to pair it with. Designed by the Tokyo glassware maker Hario (founded 1921) and redesigned in 2004 into its modern form, the V60 takes its name from the 60-degree cone that channels water to the center of the bed, stretching the contact time between water and grounds; its single large opening lets flow rate rest entirely in the brewer's hands, which is exactly what a delicate, high-acidity coffee needs to show its layered aromatics and lively fruit.

For light-roast, floral-and-fruity coffees that thrive in a V60, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the Yirgacheffe Worka "Guodingding" — gentle citrus, berry, and floral notes with a green-tea-like sweetness, an easy first step into specialty coffee; the Huakui natural from Sidamo, whose intense tropical fruit (strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, lychee), obvious sweetness, and near-zero bitterness have earned it the nickname "the least coffee-like coffee"; and the Kenya "Cherry Tomato" from Thika (1,550-1,750 meters, SL28 and SL34, 72-hour double washed fermentation), with bright cherry-tomato and dried-plum acidity, snow pear and black plum in the mid-palate, and yellow sugar with a touch of green tea in the finish.

Drinkers who prefer lower acidity should try FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Indonesian Golden Mandheling — dark roasted, thick and lingering, with herbs, dark chocolate, and a faint earthiness — or the Brazil Queen Estate, a balanced cup of nuts, cocoa, and caramel sweetness that works equally well as pour-over, espresso, or moka pot brew. Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 completes the trio: neither sharply fruity nor heavily bitter, but beautifully balanced between acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma, with cream, caramel, chocolate, nuts, honey, and a light fruit note — often called the specialty coffee that most people find easiest to love.