AFRICA
Burundi Ngozi Gatakuza - Lot #13 - Africa
Burundi Ngozi Gatakuza - Lot #13 - Africa
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The lucky number 13 rings true for the Burundi Ngozi Gatakuza––its thirteenth lot was rated the best from the small farm holder’s harvest––and it’s named after the local Gatukuza Wash Station. Its cherries are double-fermented for twelve to eighteen hours with a thorough rinsing. Then, the beans are sun-dried on a raised bed for equal time––the entire process lasting nearly 3 weeks.
Cupping Notes: Green Apple, Caramel, Vanilla, Raspberry, Plum, and Mulling Spice with a nice, syrupy body.
• Growing Altitude: 1,750 - 1,800 meters above sea level
• Variety: Red Bourbon
• Harvest Period: April - June
• Process: Washed, Sun-dried
• Brightness: 6
• Body: 6
• Aroma: 4
• Complexity: 6
• Balance: 6
• Sweetness: 6
Burundi is located directly south of Rwanda and shares a majority of its eastern border with Tanzania. Coffee was first introduced here by the Belgians in the 1930s. For a country where approximately 90% of the population relies on farming for a living, coffee and tea have remained the top two respective cash crops for generations. Today there are roughly 600,000 individual coffee farmers, whose combined export volume accounts for 60% of overall export earnings.
The vast majority of Burundi’s coffee producers are small farm holders who manage an average of 200 trees apiece on single, 1-acre plots or smaller. These producers are responsible for growing and harvesting their own lot of cherries which are in turn sold to either privately-run or government owned wash stations called SOGESTALS.
In order to best serve Burundi’s coffee sector and oversee its sustainable development, InerCafé Burundi was founded in 2010 as a professional, non-profit association of stakeholders. Their board of directors is tasked with a number of essential duties including farm-to-market traceability, promotion, quality control, producer arbitrage and international partnering to name a few. To ensure equal representation, their 13 member board is staffed by professionals from each sector—wet milling, dry milling, exporting and roasting.
The town of Ngozi where the Gatakuza wet mill is located is a market centre that serves farmers of the surrounding agricultural areas. Those who raise cattle, coffee, tea, bananas, cassava, potatoes, beans and corn utilize Ngozi and its trade routes to support their economy and local commerce.
