MUNKAZE COFFEE
Coffee washing station
Ephrem Sebatigita perpetuates a family tradition started with the grandfather, who was among the first coffee growers in the province of Kayanza in the year 1938. The family has 10.000 coffee trees, but the main production is brought by smallholders around the washing station and 2 cooperatives (Nzoyiyaga and Twaranyuzwe) are collecting the coffee for the CWS. Coffee lots are separate on a day by day base, so that it is possible to link the origin of the product to a group of coffee grower. Every colleen has it's own unique flavor.
Wet mill: Munkaze
Region: Kayanza
Year of start: 2013
Altitude: 1800 – 2000 masl
Picked: Aril - May
Owner: Ephrem Sebatigita, 30 years’ experience in coffee industry
Farmers: About 350 smallholders
Varietals: mainly varieties of Bourbón (type 139)
Production process:
Pulped, single fermentation, grades in a washing channel, skin dried under shade with parchment hand sorting, and finally sundried on African beds.
Process:
The only well ripped cherries coffee is handpicked by the farmer on the tree. Cherries are floated before delivery to the washing station. Cherries are also sorted for unripe and overripe by the farmer. At the washing station, the same process of sorting is done again by the farmer, before it is accepted.
The same day, the coffee is pulped by a 2 disc pulper machine and the output product which is parchment coffee is ferment by a single fermentation process for 8 to 12 hours, depending on the external temperature. After that, the coffee is separated into 4 grades, based on density, in the grading channel. Finally, the parchment coffee is soaked under clean water for about 12 hours.
Drying:
The wet parchment coffee first of all sorted on shaded beds , then moved to be sun dried for 15 to 20 days, depending on the weather, on beds on hessian cloths. All along the drying process, the coffee is moved. Drying tables are numbered and coffee is followed by a batch identification card. Coffee traceability is ensured.
Notes:
This coffee is from the Buyenzi region in the province of Kayanza which is near the Kibira forest at a height elevation, and also a tea area.
Women at Munkaze
My mother, Odette Sebatigita at the age of 78, is a member of IWACA. She is following very closely, the management of the family plantation.
Odette, a widow, is convinced that women make better use of money than men in general and this is why she only employs women to cultivate her fields in Kayanza.
Cup of Excellence
First participation: 2015
Cupper in the national jury: 2012, 2013, 2015
Rank | 12b |
---|---|
Farm Name | Munkaze (Munkaze Coffee) |
Farmer/Rep. | Juvénal Mukeshimana |
Country | Burundi |
Year | 2015 |
Size (30kg boxes) | 17 |
City | Kayanza |
Region | Kayanza |
Program | Burundi 2015 |
Month | - |
Aroma/Flavor | Caramel, tres leches, black currant, chocolate, mango, guava, green apple, lime |
Acidity | Citric, lactic, bright |
Other | Round body, smooth, sweet, clear finish |