What Makes Rwandan Coffee Special - An Introduction to Rwandan Coffee Regions, Flavor Characteristics and Profiles

In October 2020, McCafé announced a brand upgrade, planning to invest 2.5 billion yuan in coffee over the next three years. This news attracted widespread attention in the coffee community. As part of its brand upgrade series of operations, McCafé took this opportunity to change the formula of its espresso blend. On top of the original Colombia, Ethiopia, and Brazil beans, it added Rwandan coffee beans, with Rwanda accounting for about 25% of the entire blend, Brazil 55%, and Colombia and Ethiopia each accounting for 10%.

Rwandan coffee once again sparked heated discussion among the public. Although Rwanda is a small country, it is not lacking in quality coffee, and has gradually appeared in major coffee shops over the years. What exactly is the charm of Rwandan coffee? FrontStreet Coffee will share with you focusing on Rwandan coffee.

Rwandan Coffee

Rwanda is located in the central region of Africa and is a standard landlocked country, with neighboring countries all being major coffee-producing nations. In the early 20th century, Rwanda successively became a colony of Germany and Belgium, with German missionaries first introducing coffee.

During the colonial period, coffee production increased significantly, but the exploitation of labor, suppression of coffee crop prices, and high export taxes made the quality of coffee beans less than ideal. This was also a normal phenomenon in the development of commercial coffee at that time.

It was not until after Rwanda's independence and the establishment of the first official coffee organization, OCIR, that attention was slowly paid to coffee bean production. Rwanda's coffee production continued to grow from the 1960s to the 1980s and reached an unprecedented peak in 1986. It was not until the early 1990s when domestic political stability began to decline (Rwandan Genocide) that the coffee industry stagnated.

Today, Rwanda has gradually recovered its vitality. In terms of urban construction, security, people's friendliness, and cleanliness, it can be said to be an "atypical" African country. Rwanda is currently recognized as the safest country in Africa. In the "2017 World's Safest Countries and Destinations" ranking, Rwanda ranked ninth among all cities worldwide, the only African country to make the top ten.

Rwanda is a developing country, mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry, with 92% of Rwanda's population engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. Among them, coffee and tea are Rwanda's main cash crops. One in every 30 Rwandans works in the coffee-related industry.

Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rwanda's coffee sales undoubtedly suffered significant impacts. To help Rwandan coffee farmers overcome difficulties, on May 14th, Alibaba's live streaming queen Viya recommended Rwandan Gorilla's coffee beans, selling a year's worth of sales in one second.

Rwandan Coffee Growing Environment

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, Rwanda is a landlocked country in Africa, bordered by Burundi to the south, Tanzania to the east, Uganda to the north, and Congo to the northwest.

Rwanda's reputation as the "Land of a Thousand Hills" comes from its overlapping mountain ranges, with 5 volcanoes alone. Besides mountains, there are also 23 lakes and numerous rivers, providing abundant water resources.

Rwanda has a temperate and tropical highland climate, with an average temperature of 24.6-27°C. Its temperature is lower than typical equatorial countries, but coffee is grown in mountainous western regions where temperatures are lower than the eastern lowlands, with greater temperature differences. For example, Lake Kivu in the north has an average altitude of 1463 meters and an average daily temperature of 22°C. Coupled with fertile volcanic soil, it is very suitable for coffee cultivation.

Rwandan Coffee Varieties

Common coffee varieties in Rwanda include Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai. FrontStreet Coffee believes that these three all have similar Bourbon flavor profiles, reminiscent of citrus and nuts.

Properly cultivated Bourbon coffee has excellent sweetness, while Caturra is a natural variant of Bourbon, characterized by higher yield than Bourbon and shorter planting distances between plants. The Catuai variety is even higher yielding and resistant to diseases, wind, and rain.

Rwandan Coffee Processing Methods

Rwandan coffee is mainly processed using the washed method. The washed processing method involves floating the harvested coffee fruits to remove insufficiently dense fruits, followed by depulping, then fermenting the coffee beans with mucilage in water tanks. After fermentation is complete, the mucilage layer is washed away with clean water, and finally the coffee beans are dried until their moisture content reaches about 11% to 13%. FrontStreet Coffee believes that washed coffee has higher acidity, good cleanliness, and stable overall performance.

In 2000, Rwanda, which had just experienced internal political chaos, aimed to improve its coffee industry. Michigan State University led a team of researchers from institutions including Texas A&M University and the National University of Rwanda to assist Rwanda in upgrading its coffee industry.

The project was abbreviated as PEARL (meaning "pearl" in Chinese, with the full English name being Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages project). The PEARL project aimed to promote improvements in the quality and quantity of Rwandan coffee and help farmers achieve better incomes, creating a virtuous cycle.

After the implementation of the PEARL project, Rwanda successively built 46 coffee washing stations, significantly growing Rwanda's economy through the strong export of coffee beans. The PEARL project was also the largest and most comprehensive development plan implemented in Rwanda since its independence.

In addition, FrontStreet Coffee also believes that one reason Rwanda chose washed processing as its main processing method is for high-yield stable quality, and secondly because Rwanda has two rainy seasons each year, one from February to May and another from September to December, while the coffee harvest season is generally from March to June, almost during the first rainy season.

During the rainy season, although sufficient rainfall benefits coffee growth, the rain factor makes it difficult for Rwanda to carry out processing methods that require long drying times, such as natural processing (which takes an average of 3 to 4 weeks), and processing methods like natural processing are not as stable in quality as washed coffee.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee once selected a washed Rwandan Gishamwanda for sale, with the same varieties of Bourbon, Caturra, and Catuai. During cupping, this Rwandan Gishamwanda showed distinct citrus and plum acidity, with nuts in the middle to later stages, and a finish mixed with honey. When the temperature dropped slightly, it showed obvious berry-like flavors, with a smooth mouthfeel, refreshing aftertaste, and good balance.

Brewing Method

In terms of brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a segmented brewing approach. Use 15 grams of coffee powder, choose a common V60 conical dripper, water temperature of 90°C, and a medium-fine grind (80% passing through a 0.85mm standard sieve).

The first stage uses 30 grams of water for blooming for 30 seconds. In the second stage, pour water in small circular motions to 125 grams and segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring the third stage to 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (starting timing from the beginning of blooming). The total extraction time is 2 minutes.

The conical V60 dripper enhances the coffee's layers, while the 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio increases the coffee's body and aftertaste. Segmented pouring prevents the extraction time from being too short while allowing adjustments for the front, middle, and back stages.

The brewed flavor of Rwandan coffee has distinct fruit acidity and nuts, with overall balance and smoothness. Although the berry-like flavors are not as prominent as those from Kenya, as a coffee-producing country that has risen to prominence in the last 20 years, Rwanda still has room for improvement. It is believed that more specialty coffees from Rwanda will enter the domestic market in the near future.

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