How to Best Brew Burundi Coffee? V60 Pour-Over Brewing Parameters and Suggestions

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The Story Behind the Coffee Bean

If we told you that the coffee in your hand comes from Burundi—a country on the East African Rift Valley whose name you might never have heard before, a nation experiencing turmoil and conflict, scarce resources, large population, underdeveloped infrastructure, a vicious cycle of economic development, and constantly falling into the abyss of poverty—would you find this coffee bitter and hard to swallow?

No.

When we conducted a blind tasting, we still smelled the sweet aroma of plums and black plums. The wet aroma remained the rich scent of dark chocolate. Upon tasting, we experienced the rich sweet and sour notes of lemon and grapefruit, with subtle hints of hazelnut syrup, honey green tea, and roasted almonds emerging in the middle to later stages.

It is said that the two most important things Africans need to learn in their lifetime are gratitude and contentment. They always sincerely thank the earth for its harvest and gifts, even if it's just a little. Parents constantly remind their children not to be greedy, as greed is the source of all unhappiness. Rather than gazing at those magnificent jade pavilions they cannot reach, their happiness comes more from freedom and authenticity.

Even in poverty, schools in Burundi are free for children. Children cheer when they get an extra banana in their occasional meals. Due to extremely underdeveloped industry, 70% of families rely on agricultural cultivation to maintain their daily income. When there is no war, people dance and beat drums during the harvest season, joyfully picking the year's bountiful harvest. Across Burundi, 650,000 (some data shows 800,000) families depend on coffee production. Even with limited knowledge of coffee, coffee farmers are willing to diligently care for each coffee tree to ensure more coffee fruits can be sold to distant civilized dining tables.

Like coffee from most underdeveloped regions, Burundi's coffee flavor is never "fresh and pleasant." It cannot bring you the bright feeling of a spring breeze. It is somewhat heavy, rich and complex, yet fragrant. Sometimes strongly acidic, sometimes gently sweet. We cannot determine whether a cup of coffee represents happiness or misfortune; we can only taste that it comes from a real land, receiving from the myriad experiences on the tongue the messages of how people on that land are bravely striving to survive.

No Land Should Be Forgotten

Burundi did not naturally grow coffee.

In 1904, Belgium invaded Burundi and brought coffee to this impoverished country.

The East African region has long been renowned for high-quality coffee, and Burundi's land was not forgotten. This African inland country, whose outline resembles a heart, possesses excellent volcanic soil, diverse microclimates, and nearly 1,200 millimeters of annual rainfall—all providing excellent conditions for coffee cultivation.

Burundi's climate is typically a "tropical" highland climate with very large temperature differences between day and night. Colonizers found that "Bourbon" was the most suitable coffee variety for local climate conditions. However, due to the cessation of investment in coffee research, "Bourbon" became the only coffee variety left in the country, and they have continued using the "fully washed" processing method.

Burundi's geographical environment is very suitable for coffee cultivation. There are no coffee estates within the country; its coffee industry is entirely conducted through small family farms, with great variations in quality. Years of war and social turmoil have also made its coffee industry very chaotic. However, it must be acknowledged that this place has the potential to produce high-quality coffee.

Starting in 2008, Burundi began transitioning to the specialty coffee industry, promoting more direct trade and traceable sourcing methods. In 2011, Burundi held a coffee quality competition called the Prestige Cup, which served as a preliminary competition before the more formal Cup of Excellence. Coffee beans from various wet mills were stored separately and ranked by quality, then sold at auction with complete traceability records. This means that unique, high-quality coffee beans from Burundi will gradually appear on the market, greatly helping to improve quality.

Burundi's coffee flavor has a subtle complexity that those who have tasted it will never forget. Coffee planted with stories and emotions is always like this. Good coffee exists to tell us that no land should be forgotten by the world.

Brewing Analysis

Hand-Pour Burundi Reference

Use a V60 dripper, 15 grams of coffee with 30 grams of water for a 35-second bloom, extract at 89-90°C water temperature, 1:15 ratio, medium-fine grind (Fuji 4). For the second pour, add water to 140ml, wait for the water level to drop, then slowly add more water with uniform speed, keeping the water level not too high. Add water again to 225ml and stop, with an extraction time of 2:15 seconds.

During brewing, it quickly brings out the enticing aroma of citrus. After tasting, you experience a citrus black tea sensation.

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Important Notice :

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