The Proper Way to Drink Rwanda Washed Bourbon and Rwanda Coffee Bean Prices

Mushonyi - Exceptional Rwandan Coffee

We've introduced several specialty coffees from Rwanda's Nyamasheke region before. This carefully selected Mushonyi lot comes from the Rutsiro region just north of Nyamasheke, likewise along the shores of Lake Kivu. High altitude, fertile volcanic soil, and an excellent climate create premium coffee quality, and we intend to keep digging deep into this gem of a coffee region. This batch is a direct-trade purchase from the processing station, featuring fresh harvests from the 2015 season (roughly June to September)!

Coffee Details

Variety: BM-139 (Bourbon)

Processing Station: Mushonyi Processing Station

Farmers: 1,756 member smallholders (each farming roughly 253 coffee trees)

Flavor Notes: Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, honey

The award record of Mushonyi Processing Station is truly remarkable. Beyond winning the Cup of Excellence championship in 2010, they took four placements in 2011 alone: championship, 12th, 16th, and 28th place!

Rwanda's Rising Specialty Coffee Scene

Rwanda is one of East Africa's fastest-rising specialty coffee origins. Beyond the lingering memory of its tragic genocide, the quality of its specialty coffee has improved at a remarkable pace. This year we've cupped several Rwandan coffees with fresh, elegant textures and beautiful acidity worth seeking out.

Flavor Profile Review

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

Brewing Recommendations

For pour-over Rwandan coffee: 15g of coffee ground medium-fine (Komachi grinder setting 3.5), V60 dripper, water temperature 90-92°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring to 105g and pause. Once the water level drops halfway, pour slowly to 225g total. Skip the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Brand: Dazhen Coffee FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City

Contact: 020-38364473

Ingredients: In-house roasted

Shelf Life: 30 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk

Taste Profile: Sweet coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Rwanda

Coffee Type: Other

Detailed Origin Information

Product Name: Rwanda West Province Rutsiro Mushonyi CWS Bourbon

Country: Rwanda

Region: Western Province, Rutsiro

Altitude: 1,827 meters

Rainfall: >1,500mm

About Bourbon Variety

Bourbon coffee (French: Café Bourbon) comes from Arabica trees of the Bourbon cultivar. It was first cultivated on Réunion Island - Bourbon Island (Île Bourbon) before 1789 - and spread from there via France to Africa and Latin America. Today it is one of the two most widely planted Arabica variety groups globally, typically grown between 3,500 and 6,500 feet (1,062-1,972 meters).

Bourbon Characteristics

Variety: Bourbon

Related: Heirloom

Origin: Bourbon Island

Optimal Growing Altitude: 800 meters and above

Type: Heirloom

Commonly Found In: Coffee-growing regions worldwide

Primary Colors: Red, yellow, and orange - predominantly red

Cherry Size: Medium

Leaf Characteristics: Broad and short

Processing Method: Washed, dried on raised African beds

Rwandan Coffee Processing

Like many African countries, Rwandan coffee is grown mostly by smallholders. Each harvest season, farmers pick ripe cherries and bring them to processing stations. First, manual sorting keeps unripe or damaged fruit out. Next the pulp is removed, followed by 12-18 hours of washed fermentation in cool, low-temperature conditions. The mucilage is then rinsed away thoroughly in channels. Through drying on raised beds, station staff turn and tend the beans by hand, ensuring that under adequate sunlight the parchment beans neither lose moisture nor dry unevenly, until moisture stabilizes below 14%.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Rwanda's washed lots are a perfect window into what washing actually does to a coffee. Washing is a water-based way of processing the fruit: float sorting, pulping, fermentation to remove the mucilage, rinsing or further soaking, drying, then hulling. The long time in water drives chemical changes inside the bean and consumes much of its simple sugars (fructose and glucose), lowering sugar content while raising various organic acids - which is why washed coffees tend to preserve more of the bean's own character while showing bright fruit acidity, cleanliness, and freshness.

If this Rwandan's clean brightness hooks you, FrontStreet Coffee's Worka (Guodingding) Cooperative Yirgacheffe is a master class in the style. The Worka cooperative team at Yirgacheffe's southeastern tip brings seasoned processing skill, and their washed lots are prized for exceptional refinement and cleanliness: jasmine florals and vivid citrus acidity, which after a medium-light roast unfold further into green tea and honey tones. It suits pour-over, cold brew, and even espresso.

And for the boldest expression of washed fruit, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Cherry Tomato leans on Kenya's famous double washed fermentation - the same washing steps run twice over - to push juiciness to its limit: cherry tomato, dark plum, snow pear, black plum, and yellow sugar in an intensely fruity yet clean cup. For the opposite pole, FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 shows what washing achieves when the goal is perfect balance rather than brightness: hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel with not a single note sticking out - a reminder that washing is a tool, and mastery is what you taste.