Rwanda Rusizi Mushaka
Farm Notes
(Credit Sweet Maria's)
This fully washed Rwandan coffee comes from the village of Mushaka, located in Nyungwe Mountain National Park in the southern District of Rusizi. The Mushaka washing station has been in operation for several years now and serves about hundreds of regional farmers, who on average are growing less than 1/2 hectare of coffee. Mushaka town sits at 1600 meters above sea level and farms reach up to higher altitudes of 1800+. A lot of hand labor goes into sorting out defects, and is noticeable when looking over the green. First, all of the coffee cherry delivered to Mushaka is spread out on tables where any over and under ripe coffee cherries are removed. Next, the cherry is transferred to tanks filled with clean water where the floating cherries (unripe coffee) are skimmed and processed as lower grade separations. Once the visible defects have been removed, the coffee is depulped down to parchment coffee and transferred to drying beds where it will be sifted through several times during the couple weeks it takes to dry. All this sorting makes for a more uniform coffee from one brew to the next since there are very few beans that will influence cup flavor.