How to Brew Rwandan Gishwati Coffee? What are the Flavor Profiles of Rwandan Coffee?

In recent years, Rwandan coffee has garnered widespread attention for its high-quality washed Bourbon varieties. This installment of our Barista Training Series will share brewing methods for Rwandan coffee.

Rwandan Coffee

Known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills," Rwanda is characterized by its mountainous terrain and highlands, with most regions enjoying a tropical highland climate and tropical savanna climate that is mild and cool. The country has approximately 33,000 hectares of coffee plantations, with about 500,000 people engaged in coffee cultivation. Rwanda is one of the few countries in the world that can fully enjoy the harmony between soil, altitude, and climate. The country possesses unique conditions for growing Arabica coffee: fertile volcanic soil, abundant rainfall, and year-round suitable temperatures—all of which contribute to the distinctive taste of coffee produced here.

Like most coffee-producing countries in Africa, Rwanda primarily relies on smallholder farmers. With government support, farmers have transitioned from rough home processing to delivering freshly harvested cherries to nearby Coffee Washing Stations for full washed processing. In just 12 years, the number of washing stations nationwide has increased from two to 220. All are now privately owned, either by exporters or farmer cooperatives. Due to the small average size of farmland (each farm has fewer than 200 coffee trees on average), each station serves approximately 50 to 100 farms.

Brewing Method

For this brewing demonstration, we are using FrontStreet Coffee's Rwanda Gisakke. The specific details are as follows:

Brewing Parameters

Brewing Steps

1. Wet the filter paper and preheat the dripper and server (remember to discard the preheating water). Add 15g of coffee grounds. Pour twice the amount of water (30ml) for a 30-second bloom.

2. After the bloom, pour water in circular motions from the center outward, trying to raise the coffee bed as high as possible (approximately to half the height of the V60's short ribs). The amount of water poured in this stage is 120ml.

3. When the water level drops to the halfway point, begin the final pour. Pour 75ml of water in coin-sized circular motions until reaching the total water volume of 225ml. Wait until all the coffee has filtered into the server to complete extraction. The total brewing time is 1 minute and 50 seconds.