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Burundi Dukorere Ikawa Cooperative
Looking like two specks of rice on the map of Africa, Burundi and neighboring Rwanda bear remarkable similarities in their coffee production, one of the mainstays of both economies. Both countries are landlocked and the trade routes out towards ports and shipping routes are complex and dangerous. They are also close-to-ideal for coffee production owing to proximity to the equator, altitude, rich, volcanic loam soil, abundant rainfall and hard-working, conscientious farmers. Much foreign aid has poured in over the last couple decades and the while both Burundi and Rwanda remain two of the poorest countries in the world, they are on the upswing.
Our coffee hails from the hamlet of Collinne Burunga, Bururi, the largest and most populous of the country's 17 provinces, near the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The wet mill of the producing cooperative, Dukorere Ikawa (with over 300 members) receives hand-picked and -sorted ripe Bourbon varietal cherry which is cultivated between 1250 and 1600 meters above sea level. Normally we hear of coffee farmers tending acres or hectares of coffee shrubs…in Burundi their caches are rather measured by the number of TREES (shrubs), which averages about 400 per farmer. The Cooperative's washing station utilized water and hydro-power that comes from a pristine source located nearby in the Buriri Forest Preserve.
All told it is a minor miracle that we can taste this fantastic coffee, which we roast to a light-medium profile. I t has dense body and abundant and complex fruitiness and is one of the highest-scoring coffees ever sourced by importer Royal Coffee. Not to be missed!
Wonderful single origin espresso.
