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Rwanda Kilimbi

Regular price £7.00 GBP
Regular price Sale price £7.00 GBP
Tax included.
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Grind Size
Kilimbi Coffee Washing Station
 
Producer: Various small lot holders from Kilimbi sector
District: Nyamasheke
Village: Gitsimbwe
Altitude: 1,550 - 1,800 MASL
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Process: Washed, 8 hour fermentation
Drying: Dried on raised beds over 21 days

Kilimbi Coffee Washing Station is built on the shores of Lake Kivu and purchases coffee from about 150 families in the area. Coffee processed here is between 1550 and 1800 MASL.

Rwandan coffee growers often own a very small portion of land, about .5ha. Aside from coffee, they also grow maize, plantain and other vegetables that are either consumed or sold into the local market for additional income. The owners of the area gifted 2ha of land for the local communities around their washing stations to grow new food crops and gifted ten cattle to provide milk to the local communities. Power was brought to this area during construction of the washing station and was shared among the community.

When the cherry is delivered to Kilimbi, it is first hand sorted, floated, pulped and fermented for 8 hours. Wet parchment is then run through a serpentine where a moving channel of water allows any floaters and foreign objects to float and be discarded. Once the coffee is separated, it is then given one final rinse and placed out on pre-drying sorting tables. It’s at this point where hand sorters remove any defects, including identifying potential potato defects. Parchment with potato defect can be identified at this point, due to a membrane like pattern on the bean, under the layer of parchment. As the coffee begins to dry, the design becomes translucent and disappears, so this is the crucial stage for Potato defect control. Coffee is then laid out to dry on terraced raised beds for an average of 21 days.