Rwanda Western Province Mushonyi Washing Station Bourbon Specialty Coffee Bean Flavor Profile

Brief Flavor Notes

Red apple, cherry, cinnamon and honey, with excellent sweetness and balance, and notes of cinnamon, almond, and chocolate in the finish.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf Life: 30 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste Profile: Sweet
Bean State: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Rwanda
Coffee Type: Other

Coffee Origin Details

Country: Rwanda
Region: Rutsiro District, Western Province
Altitude: 1827 meters
Rainfall: >1500mm
Processing Method: Washed, dried on raised African beds
Variety: BM-139 (Bourbon)
Processing Station: Mushonyi Washing Station
Farmers: 1756 smallholder member farmers (each farmer cultivates approximately 253 trees)
Flavor Profile: Red apple, cherry, cinnamon, honey

Exceptional Quality

Mushonyi Washing Station's award record is genuinely remarkable. Besides winning the Cup of Excellence championship in 2010, it secured four placements in 2011 alone: championship, 12th place, 16th place, and 28th place.

Rwanda's Rising Coffee Excellence

Rwanda can be described as one of East Africa's most rapidly developing specialty coffee-producing nations. Many still recall the tragic memories of the Rwandan genocide, yet the improvement in the country's specialty coffee quality has been just as striking. This year we have cupped several Rwandan coffees with fresh, clean textures and beautifully elegant acidity.

Cultivation and Processing

Like many African countries, Rwandan coffee is primarily produced by smallholder farmers. Each harvest season, farmers gather ripe coffee cherries and send them to processing stations. Manual sorting comes first, ensuring no unripe or damaged fruit is mixed in. Next the pulp is removed, followed by a 12-18 hour washed fermentation process in cool, low-temperature conditions. The adhering mucilage is then thoroughly cleaned in channels. During drying on raised beds, station members carefully turn the beans by hand, ensuring that under adequate sun exposure the parchment coffee beans neither lose moisture too fast nor dry unevenly, until the moisture content stabilizes below 14%.

Our Selected Offering

We have previously introduced several specialty coffees from Rwanda's Nyamasheke region. This carefully selected Mushonyi comes from the Rutsiro district, located north of Nyamasheke and similarly situated along Lake Kivu. The high altitude, fertile volcanic soil, and excellent climate combine to produce exceptional coffee. We will continue to explore this gem of a producing region in Rwanda in depth. This batch is a direct trade purchase from the washing station, featuring the freshest harvest from the 2015 season (approximately June to September).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For the red-apple and honeyed sweetness of a Rwandan washed Bourbon, look to FrontStreet Coffee's washed Ethiopian lots. The FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Gutingtin Cooperative is a fully washed, medium-light roasted coffee that shows jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, then rounds out with green tea and honey—close in spirit to Mushonyi's clean, sweet balance. If you lean toward red-fruit brightness, the FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Little Tomato is a classic double-washed Kenyan bean with cherry tomato, smoked plum, snow pear, black plum, and yellow sugar notes in a juicy, layered cup. Both are exceptionally versatile; brew them as pour-over or cold brew to keep their clarity intact.