Burundi - Izuba Mugoyi Natural [25/26]

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter

Light Roaster Influence:  We're pushing this one a touch harder than our usual style - slightly longer roasting both overall and at the end, bringing more sugar-browning and heavier, cooked fruit notes.

Filter: 64g/L & 91°C, with rest can go down to 88°C

Espresso: 18g in, 46g out, 25-30s

Best rested for: 3+ weeks

We're tasting: Big aromatics of raisin, malty assam tea and baking spices - especially clove & cinnamon. In the cup it's reminding us of spiced farmhouse fruitcake - muscovado, glacé cherry, sultana, and cranberry, with a rustic rye/wholemeal crumb sweetness. Cooling to milk chocolate, baked pear and strong black tea, this is classic Burundian natty flavours through and through.

Traceability:

The Story

Burundi's coffee sector supports 600,000 smallholder farming families, though production has declined since the 1990s. Kayanza Province's volcanic soils and elevations between 1100 - 2000 meters provide optimal growing conditions. Izuba washing station sits near Kibira National Park, where the montane forest creates beneficial microclimates for coffee cultivation.

The station operates under Ntama Appolinaire's management in partnership with Muraho Trading Company & Raw Material, which reinvests profits into infrastructure and community projects. This has enabled wage standards 25% above other local stations. Izuba processes cherry from 1482 producers across three hills (Kigeri, Ryamukona, and Mugoyi) with each delivery recorded by producer and location.

Hill separations like this Mugoyi lot allow for precise traceability and quality differentiation, with the return of premiums a major part of why we selected this lot (aside from being delicious!). The station's quality control includes extensive cherry floating and wet sorting, with additional facilities added in 2020 to address defect management.