Roasted for Filter  |  Kalamansi, allspice, floral honey

Fresh and juicy, with top notes of kalamansi and other fragrant citrus. A marzipan sweetness develops into allspice and honey in the finish.

Please join us in thanking Aime Gahizis and the smallholder coffee producers of Karongi as we mark twelve years of working with delicious coffee from Gitesi washing station.

The Producer

Aime is always hospitable and positive when we visit Rwanda. We stay in close contact throughout the year to hear how things are going at the washing station. As well as buying and processing coffee cherries grown by the smallholder farmers in the surrounding hillsides, the Gahizi family also tend to their own small farm, from which this specific lot hails. They have a wormery which they use to make an organic fertiliser spray, which also helps to limit the spread of leaf rust. Every year they are buying more land and planting more coffee, with over 20,000 trees now producing on their own farm. Their mature trees produce an average of 5kg fruit per year but can produce upwards of 20kg.

Cows kept at the station provide milk and fertiliser for their own trees, and through Aime’s social work they donate dozens of cows each year to farmers in the local area, as well as spray pumps for fertiliser. They also donate seedlings from their nursery of over 10,000 plants to neighbouring farmers and run workshops to teach them about tending to other food crops as well as coffee.

The Washing Station

The water used for producing washed coffees comes from a natural spring. After being used for processing the coffee it becomes full of particulates and enzymes, needing to be filtered before being reintroduced into the local water table. At Gitesi they collect water from the washing channels as well as run off from the mounds of coffee pulp (which breaks down to provide more compost for their trees) and first hold it in a tank. The mucilage settles and is separated off to be added to organic fertiliser whilst the water passes through lime and EM (effective microorganisms). Subsequent stages use molasses, holding tanks, charcoal and fine gravel to filter the water before it finally passes through a bed of vetiver reeds, re-oxygenating it. This filtration system is highly advanced and is held up as an exemplary model for other washing stations to work towards.

A couple of years ago they built new washing and grading channels at the station as part of their renovations. Typically they will process around 80% of their coffee volumes as washed coffee, with 20% naturals being done on a case by case basis for certain clients.

Their Approach

Aime sees the work at Gitesi as much more than simple crop husbandry and coffee production, doing amazing work within the neighbouring community. We asked him for a message that we could pass along to the people drinking coffee from Gitesi and he replied with the following, that we haven’t the heart to shorten:

“The Gitesi Sector is the land of our grandfathers, it’s where even my father was born. But as you know, because of Rwandan history we grew up outside our country, and we came back in 1994 after the genocide and liberation war. Upon our return we have found in our land no one among our family members, all of them were killed in the genocide. We are now living and working with those who killed (or their children) our relatives. What motivates us is the reconciliation between the survivors of genocide of those who participated in genocide in our sector, now we are working together at the washing station, sharing everything in peace. Our plan is to continue changing the lives of our people at Gitesi both socially and economically.”

Roasted for Filter  |  Quince, cashew, white chocolate

Layered and generous, look for soft fruit notes of quince and cooked apple, with caramelised white chocolate and a gentle anise finish.

Alto Bonito is an apt name for this incredibly high altitude, beautiful farm in the Rioblanco municipality of Colombia’s Tolima department. 

The Farm 

Established in 2014 by Rusbelth Arango and his brother, Alto Bonito is located at a staggering 2,050 metres above sea level in the Tolima department of Colombia, in the municipality of Rioblanco. Inspired from a young age by their father’s career in coffee cultivation, the brothers set out to produce quality coffee outturns from the 6 hectare farm, of which just 2 are planted out the traditional cultivars of the region, namely Caturra, Castillo and Variedad Colombia. In 2019 Rusbelth bought out his brother’s share of the farm and now runs Alto Bonito with his wife, Sandra Milena. Through developing and improving the calibre of their coffee production they have improved their quality of life for themselves and their family. 

Their Approach

The cornerstones of producing quality coffee are healthy coffee trees and good cherry selection. During harvest the family pitches in as well as 7 neighbours from within the community, and Rusbelth has meticulous standards for cherries to be received and processed. They are pulped on the same day using a Fimar No. 2 depulping machine which is slowly fed the ripe coffee cherries. The depulped parchment coffee then spends an average of 34 hours in ceramic-tiled tanks, undergoing a dry fermentation stage, before it is washed, sifted through and washed again to remove any defects. The clean coffee is then dried slowly under retractable shading on a rooftop, for around 15 days, before it is sealed into sacks and stored before being delivered to Caravela’s buying hub in Herrera. 

Rusbelth and Sandra have a small nursery where they are germinating Pink Bourbon and Pacamara to diversify the cultivars in their portfolio, and work with Caravela’s PECA team to ensure the best crop husbandry practices as well as post-harvesting methodologies. Knowing that customers are enjoying a great cup of coffee gives them great joy and their dedication to ensuring high standards are met is really heartening, and so we’re thrilled to be able to pay a premium price to ensure their hard work is rewarded.

The Exporter

Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. In their latest impact report 87% of their producing partners had farms of less than 5 hectares in size. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities. 

As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:

“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.” 

This year we hosted Water and Hector from Caravela’s Colombian team, a quality analyst and a PECA trainer respectively, in our roastery, to learn more about their first-hand work with producers and to better understand how we can support Caravela’s mission to make coffee better for everyone in the supply chain. 

Roasted for Filter  |  Roasted peach, dates, orchids

Juicy and elegant, with rounded fruit flavours of roasted peach and red berries. The finish is sweet and heady like dates and orchids.

Our second Burundian coffee of the year, hailing again from the Izuba washing station in Kayanza. Growers on the Kigeri colline nearby are producing and delivering their coffee cherries for centralised processing, resulting in a bright cup with cooked fruit flavours and complex orchid type florals.

The Producers

Various communities in and around the Kabarore commune in the north of Burundi are those growing the coffee cherries that are centrally processed at the Izuba washing station. Different locales based around particular hills or collines are kept separate during processing, and this particular lot we have bought comes from the Kigeri hillside. Growers here receive two payments for their coffee cherries, the first upon delivery to the station and the second after harvest having sold the coffee with a quality premium. 

Smallhold coffee growers are responsible for 80% of coffee produced globally, yet can often be the most disenfranchised and least rewarded for their work. By choosing to partner with a station like Izuba, which is owned and operated by Raw Material (a social enterprise committed to increasing farmer prosperity) the several hundred growers who contributed to this lot benefit socially and economically. All the contributing families receive health insurance, a scheme put in place after interviewing with the local community to determine what they desired most from the partnership. They are also repurposing spent coffee pulp which is broken down into a natural fertiliser for the farmers to take and spread around their trees. 

The Washing Station

The contributing smallhold members deliver their harvested coffee cherries to the Izuba wet mill, whereupon they are weighed on arrival. The price paid for ripe cherry is higher, but the station still pays for unripe and damaged cherries, which are processed separately. Ntama Appoolinarire is the station manager, who is working alongside Prosper Merrimee, Raw Material’s operational manager in Burundi. Various processing techniques are employed at the station to create a diverse portfolio of flavour profiles and extend their marketability. By maximising quality at every stage the goal is to increase the value of their outturns, in turn increasing profitability for the growers. 

This particular selection of Red Bourbon was initially hand sorted and floated before being depulped and wet fermented for 12 hours. During this time it was agitated and mixed around to break down the coffee’s mucilage layers, before being fully washed and rinsed in long grading channels, which sorts the coffee by density. Before being put to sun dry the coffee goes under shade to be hand sorted during skin drying to further refine the coffee visually. It takes about 20 days to dry down to a stable moisture content, depending on the climate. 

Origin: Runinya, Kabarore, Kayanza, Burundi

Producer: Grown by smallholders on Kigeri colline, processed at Izuba CWS

Processing: Hand sorted & floated, depulped and wet fermented 12hrs, fully washed and dried on raised beds. 

Cultivars: Red Bourbon

Altitude: 1,800 metres

Harvest: June, 2024

Arrival: April, 2025

Roasted for Filter  |  Gooseberry, guava, lemonade

A lively cup with sherberty acidity. Tart gooseberry and floral guava notes lead to a refreshing lemonade finish.

Hailing from Kenya’s Kiambu County, we’re thrilled to reintroduce a coffee from Githembe washing station into the range. A zingy gooseberry acidity leans tropical, with some guava and fresh pineapple flavours in the mix. 

The Producers

Around 400 smallhold farmers are the ones growing the coffee that ultimately makes up the lots produced at the Githembe factory. Typically coffee is intercropped with macadamia and other food crops planted for sustenance as well as secondary cash crops. Handege is the locale within Kiambu county where the Githembe factory is located, and the growers here are blessed with very fertile, red soils at altitudes of between 1,600 and 1,800 metres, which makes for fantastic coffee growing conditions. The most common cultivars are SL28 and SL34, with recent additions of Batian and Ruiru 11 commonplace. Some farmers are splicing the older plants more recognised for cup quality onto hardier root stocks, for example grafting an SL28 scion onto a stumped Ruiru 11 plant. 

The Washing Station

The Githembe washing station, or factory, was built in 1969. Once coffee cherries are delivered there is an initial sorting phase overseen by the reception clerk. They use a traditional 3-disc Agaarde pulping machine, and the depulped mucilage-covered parchment coffee is graded before and after fermentation. They practice a dry fermentation stage of between 18 and 24 hours after which point the mucilage is scrubbed off in tiled washing channels, which aid in grading the coffee by density. The coffee is subsequently soaked to improve cleanliness and homogeneity.  

In an attempt to safeguard against theft, the processed parchment coffee is transported to another factory run by the same Farmers’ Co-operative Society as Githembe (Thiririka FCS) for drying, where they are able to consolidate their security resources.

The Farmers’ Co-operative Society

Thiririka FCS (named for a local river) runs the Githembe factory as well as Kiganjo and Ndundu. Kiganjo is the site where coffee processed at Githembe is dried. This is done on raised beds for between 9 and 14 days, with the coffee being covered over during the hottest parts of the day as well as overnight. With 2,400 members in the FCS around 1,500 are active. The members are all using certified seed stocks from Kenya’s CRI (Coffee Research Institute). Part of their operation involves providing their contributing smallhold farmer members with agronomical training and materials. Advice is dispensed such as how and when to clear weeds, prune the coffee trees, apply mulch and use fertilisers.

Origin: Handege, Kiambu County, Kenya

Producer: 400 smallholders & Thiririka FCS

Processing: Hand-picked & sorted, traditionally depulped & dry fermented for 18-24 hours, fully washed, soaked & dried on raised beds.

Cultivars: SL28, SL34 & Batian

Altitude: 1,600 to 1,800 metres

Harvest: December, 2024

Arrival: May, 2025