Which Brands of Natural Process Burundi Coffee Are Available - Burundi Coffee Brewing Steps

Burundi Kayanza Kabuye Natural

Origin: Burundi

Altitude: 1750 meters

Region: Kayanza Kabuye

Roast Level: Medium Roast

Processing Method: Natural

Brewing Method: Pour-over. 15g coffee, medium grind (Fuji Royal grinder #4), V60 dripper, 88-89°C water temperature. First pour 30g water and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and pause, wait until the water bed drops to halfway, then slowly pour to 225g. Discard the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15. Extraction time 2:00.

Burundi: The Mountain Kingdom

Burundi lies in southeastern Africa, south of the equator. It borders Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west, with the southwestern part touching Lake Tanganyika. The country is mostly highland and mountainous, largely the eastern plateau of the Great Rift Valley. Its average elevation is 1600 meters, which is why it is called the "Kingdom of Mountains." More than half the country lies on the famous Lake Tanganyika, and the capital is Bujumbura. The western lakeside and valleys, along with the eastern regions, have a tropical savanna climate, while the central and western parts have a tropical highland climate. Average annual temperatures run from 20-24°C, with highs reaching 33°C. March-May is the major rainy season, October-December the minor one, and the other months are dry.

Burundi Coffee Characteristics

Burundi coffee bears a striking resemblance to that of its neighbor Rwanda, and coffees from the two are often confused. Burundi's coffee is predominantly Bourbon, and cherries are traditionally wet processed. The main characteristics of its specialty coffee are elegant sweetness and bright citrus aromatics. This particular batch is a Bourbon micro-lot.

Variety: Bourbon

Processing Station: Panya Processing Station

Flavor Notes: Grape skin, orange wine, fermented fruits

This batch is a natural-processed Bourbon micro-lot from the Panya Processing Station in the Kabuye area of Kayanza province, situated at the Maldaqi Peak. Altitude here is extremely high, with mountainous areas exceeding 2000 meters. The soil is a fertile gravelly loam, exceptionally well suited to coffee, and the station is recognized as the best coffee processing station in Burundi.

Burundi Coffee Industry

Burundi has one of the world's most diverse and successful coffee industries, with a character all its own. Coffee was introduced by Belgian colonizers in 1930 and is now grown only on small farms. Unfortunately many of those farms sit in areas bordering war-torn Rwanda, which puts pressure on production. Nearly all Burundian coffee is Arabica, with trees in Ngozi growing above 1200 meters. Burundi coffee has a rich, aromatic flavour with excellent acidity, and most of the crop is exported to the United States, Germany, Finland and Japan.

Tasting Notes

The cup carries intense aromas of raisin, blackberry jam and ripe peach. The front palate shows the sweetness of cranberry, citrus and peach juice, and rich caramel and orange-jam sweetness runs through the whole cup. The fermented, wine-like aromatics typical of natural processing are especially prominent, reminiscent of orange wine or peach: a genuinely distinctive Burundi specialty coffee.

Bourbon Coffee

Bourbon coffee (French: Café Bourbon) comes from Arabica trees of the Bourbon cultivar. It was first cultivated on Réunion Island, known as Bourbon Island (Île Bourbon) before 1789, and later spread by France to the African continent and Latin America. Today it is one of the two most widely planted Arabica varieties in the world. Bourbon coffee is typically grown at altitudes between 3500 and 6500 feet (1062-1972 meters).

Product Information

Brand: FrontStreet Coffee

Address: No. 10 Baoan Qianjie, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City

Contact: 020-38364473

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans

Origin: Other

Roast Degree: Medium roast

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Natural-processed coffee like this Burundi micro-lot lives on its fermented fruit and wine-like aromatics, and FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui is the same idea taken further. Grown in Hambella in Guji, Sidamo, and dried on raised beds for 21 days with the cherries turned regularly, it is roasted light-medium to bring out a light, wine-like ferment alongside floral, citrus and mango, with honey sweetness, a cocoa edge and a touch of spice, a thick body and a long finish.

If you like the bright citrus side of Burundi rather than the fermented side, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe Gudingding Cooperative is the counterpoint. Washed rather than natural, it is clean and clear, with jasmine florals, lemon and citrus acidity and a green-tea finish, and it captures the same elegant sweetness from the other end of the processing spectrum.

Both fit the V60 method used above. Keep the dose at 15g with a 1:15 ratio and water at 90-91°C, bloom with 30g for 30 seconds, then pour to 95g and finish at 225g, aiming for a total time of around 2 minutes to 2 minutes 10 seconds.