How to Drink Burundi Coffee? Pour-Over Burundi Coffee Beans Tutorial & Price Guide

Introduction to Burundi Coffee Growing Regions

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Burundi - The Heart of Africa

According to World Bank statistics from 2011, approximately 600,000-800,000 households in Burundi depend on coffee for their livelihood, making coffee the core of Burundi's economy.

Burundi is a very beautiful landlocked country located on the steep East African Rift Valley with complex terrain. The magnificent ridge rising suddenly from the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika forms the watershed between Africa's two major river systems - the Nile and Congo - earning it the beautiful title "Heart of Africa." Through Belgian introduction, Burundi began growing coffee in 1930, with varieties mostly being Bourbon series similar to neighboring Rwanda. Coffee grows at high altitudes between 1750 to 2000 meters.

The first Arabica coffee trees in Burundi were introduced by Belgium in the 1930s. Today, more than 800,000 Burundian families depend on coffee cultivation for their livelihood. Most belong to small-scale coffee gardens, intercropped with other crops, manually cultivated without mechanized equipment. Coffee tree varieties are mostly Bourbon and Jackson and Mibirigy belonging to the Bourbon system. Processing methods include both washed and semi-washed. In the past, most was exported to Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Australia, and the United States.

Coffee export has become an important economic source for Burundi. Burundi coffee beans mainly come from the following five major producing regions, with the most famous coffee regions being Kayanza, Ngozi, Mumirwa, Buyenzi, and Kirimiro. Burundi's coffee production model is closer to Ethiopia's, with mostly small farmers. Farmers from the Nyarunasi Cooperative send their harvested mature cherries to processing stations for unified processing.

Although there are other small producing regions, the coffee produced in these areas is the most famous.

Buyenzi

The largest coffee producing region in the country, bordering Rwanda. Two specific areas, Kayanza and Ngozi, are the most famous.

The Kayanza region has an extremely mild climate with an average temperature of 18°C. Most small farms are located between 1700-2000 meters, with summer being the dry season. In the 2015 Cup of Excellence competition, coffee from Kayanza achieved a high score of 91.09.

Ngozi is located in northeastern Burundi, at similar altitude to Kayanza. Although its production is less than Kayanza, it has also shown excellent quality potential in recent years. In the 2015 Cup of Excellence competition, its best batch achieved a high score of 88.92, with other batches from this region also scoring above 85.

Kirundo, Bugesera

Northeastern Burundi, with lower production but good development potential; altitude is approximately 1400-1700 meters. The best COE score for this region is 86.62 points.

Muyinga, Bweru

Another producing region in northeastern Burundi, bordering Tanzania. Average altitude is 1800 meters, with typical Burundian characteristics: mild climate, volcanic soil, and high rainfall.

Gitega, Kirimiro

Located in the central mountainous region of Burundi, with average temperature between 12-18°C. Annual rainfall is about 1,100mm, lower than other producing regions.

In addition to COE award-winning coffee, this region also has a professional coffee laboratory focusing on export coffee quality monitoring.

Bubanza, Mumirwa

Located in northern Burundi, bordering Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, altitude 1100-2000 meters, average temperature 12-18°C, annual rainfall about 1,100mm.

Burundi Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Burundi's coffee production model is closer to Ethiopia's, with mostly small farmers sending their harvested mature cherries to processing stations for unified processing. This batch from the Rutana region comes from a cooperative formed by family-like small coffee farmers, with 539 small coffee farming families, of which 148 are women. Each family plants 10-200 coffee trees on average (at least 1000 coffee trees can be planted per hectare), showing their weak annual income and typical poor coffee farming families.

Coffee harvested by small farmers is processed using traditional washed methods. After pulping, cherries are soaked and cleaned in water tanks, then placed on racks for sun drying.

Like other East African countries, Burundi has its own special processing method - double washing (or double fermentation). Coffee processed this way always has extremely clean taste and bright flavors.

The coffee beans have almost no defects, with very uniform size and moisture content. After high-maturity roasting, the bean surface consistently shows quite bright roasted color. The taste is wild, with strong flavors and aromas. The rich aroma is different from most high-quality and mild coffees on the market, receiving high evaluation in Europe. The dry aroma is very strong, not inferior to Kenya. Upon entry, you can feel richness, like vanilla flavor, with a bit of wild feeling. The coffee is rich, with lower acidity than Kenya, slightly thicker texture than Kenya, and lighter aftertaste than Kenya. It has the inherent characteristics of East African beans but is quite unique.

Burundi Coffee Bean Analysis

Generally, Burundi coffee beans are mainly Bourbon variety, with some other variants (such as Jackson and Blue Mountain). They are grown at altitudes ranging from 700-2,700 meters. High altitude produces brighter acidity and lemon notes, with passion fruit, pineapple, floral, and honey flavors, with quality reaching SCA 86 points or above. Low altitude coffee has slightly thinner texture, with more chocolate and hazelnut flavors.

Region: Bubanza

Variety: Bourbon

Altitude: 1400 to 1700 meters

Soil: Volcanic rock soil

Grade: AA Grade

Processing: Washed

Harvest Period: March to August

Flavor: Honey, kumquat, violet floral aroma, light acidity, smooth mouthfeel, saturated aroma, rich and persistent aftertaste.

Burundi Coffee Bean Roasting Analysis

The green beans have high density, so heat adjustment must be particularly careful. To highlight fruit flavors and sweetness, medium roasting is chosen to fully express the uniqueness of the green beans. After 1 minute, the initial heat will be relatively high, until the early dehydration stage when heat is adjusted early, making the coffee's taste and aroma uniform.

Yang Family 800N, green beans 550g, specific operation:

Heat roaster to 200°C, damper open 3. After 1 minute steaming, adjust heat to 160°C, damper unchanged. At 160°C, adjust heat once to 130°C. Roast to 5'35", temperature 152°C, bean surface turns yellow, grass smell completely disappears, dehydration complete, damper adjusted to 4.

At the 9th minute, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly changes to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack starts at 9'10", small heat unchanged, damper fully open to 5 (heat adjustment must be very careful, not too small to stop cracking sounds). At 196.5°C, discharge from roaster.

Cupping Burundi Coffee Beans

The dry aroma is very strong, not inferior to Kenya - citrus, cream, caramel.

Upon entry, you can feel richness, like vanilla, with some straw smell, a bit wild. Acidity is lower than Kenya, texture slightly thicker than Kenya, aftertaste lighter than Kenya. It has the inherent characteristics of East African beans but is quite unique.

Flavor characteristics: Berries, kumquat, lemon, dried fruit, caramel, light acidity, smooth mouthfeel, saturated aroma, rich and persistent aftertaste.

Burundi Coffee Bean Brewing Analysis

Hand Brew Burundi Coffee Bean Reference

Use V60 dripper, 15g coffee with 30g water for 35-second bloom, extract with 89-90°C water at 1:15 ratio, medium-fine grind with Fuji 4. For the second pour, add water to 140ml then pause. Wait for water to drop before slowly adding more water. Keep speed uniform, water level not too high. Add water again to 225ml then stop. Extraction time 2:15 seconds.

During brewing, the attractive citrus aroma quickly emerges. After tasting, you feel citrus tea sensation.

Burundi Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Burundi coffee beans have full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, the cost-performance ratio is extremely high. One package of 227 grams costs only 85 yuan. Calculating at 15g per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 6 yuan. Compared to cafe prices that often cost dozens of yuan per cup, this is a conscientious recommendation.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473