Tasting notes

 - White tea, caramel & mandarin

This wonderful microlot is produced by a women's cooperative in Rwandan's southern province, and a portion of every bag sold will be donated to the Supporting Strong Women campaign. We are thrilled to partner with Melbourne Coffee Merchants to support this campaign, and raise funds to build a child day-care centre for the women of Rambagirakawa and their wider community.

Brewing

We suggest using this coffee for filter brew methods, such as a pourover, aeropress, chemex or batch brew (or similar). It's roasted a bit lighter to accentuate the delicious fruitiness and acidity that we love.

Origin Information

Country : Rwanda

Province : Southern Province

District : Huye District

Sector : Huye Sector

Washing Station : Sovu Washing Station

Elevation : 1760 MASL

Variety : Red Bourbon

Processing : Washed

Farmers : 32 Cooperative members

Washing Station Owner : Abahuzamugambi Ba Kawa Maraba Cooperative

Growth Story

This special microlot was produced using coffee cherry from 32 women farmers who own and grow coffee on small farms in the hills surrounding Sovu washing station, in Rwanda’s Southern Province. The women are members of the Abizerwa Women’s Group, a women-led alliance within the Abahuzamugambi Ba Kawa Maraba Cooperative (or ‘Maraba’). In the local Kinyarwanda language, Abizerwa means “trusted people” – a fitting name for the group, given how much the members share support and resources with each other.

In collaboration with Abizerwa and international buyers, Maraba has assisted the women in processing and marketing their coffees as a separated ‘Women’s Coffee’ lot, which earns them an additional bonus payment on top of the quality premium all Dukunde Kawa members receive

As the cooperative’s General Manager Theophile Biziyaremye explains: “While everything the cooperative does is first approved by the General Assembly, we started to have clients that requested women’s coffees. We started processing them separately because we had a market for them, and we made the efforts to reinforce and empower the project. After selling their coffee, the women receive the additional premiums from those particular customers — on top of the premiums they already receive for delivering high quality cherry.”

To distinguish their coffee and ensure it is processed separately, the women have organised to deliver cherry to the washing station on certain days of the week. The women’s lots are kept separate through the processing, milling and preparation stages. This is made possible because Maraba owns and operates its own dry mill, allowing them to process smaller lots individually, whilst minimising cost and maintaining excellent quality standards.