The coffee from the Karambi washing station is the last Rwanda this year and like Gitesi or Tumba before it is simply great. On espresso it is juicy, full-bodied and sweet.
The farm / washing station:
Just a few kilometres inland from Kirambo on the edge of Lake Kivu is the Karambi washing station, named after the nearby village and surrounding sector. The site is situated on steep and largely inaccessible slopes and covers an area of just over 2.5 hectares. Karambi was established in 2016 and RTC took ownership the following year. There are 4 full-time employees and an additional 60 workers will be added during the harvest, 90% of whom are women. 1,500 farmers contribute cherries to the station and all have successfully participated in RTC’s training program. Since 2017, annual production has doubled from 220 tonnes of cherries processed to an expected 400+ this year. All farms around Karambi are within 3 kilometers of the station and are located on steep slopes. The average size of the farms is 4 hectares, with approximately 8 000 trees per farm.
The reason why the production volume at Karambi station has decreased this year is because the station shares local farmers with the neighbouring Gesharu station. In many of Rwanda’s coffee-growing regions, the government has sought to provide local farmers with access to supply chains by expanding the number of washing stations through the Coffee Value Chain Development Project, an initiative co-funded by the European Union. The consensus seems to be that while this creates greater access and opportunities for farmers to sell cherries, it can be counterproductive for washing stations and exporters who have to compete for cherry volumes.
Variety:
Bourbon is the most famous of the varieties from the Bourbon family. It is a tall variety characterised by its relatively low production, susceptibility to the most common diseases and excellent cup quality. French missionaries brought this variety from Yemen to the island of Bourbon (now Réunion) in the early 17th century, giving it its present name. Bourbon did not leave the island until the mid-19th century. From the mid-19th century, however, the variety spread to new parts of the world as missionaries sought to establish themselves in Africa and America. Around 1860, Bourbon was imported to Brazil, from where it quickly spread north to other parts of South and Central America, where it is still grown today. Here it has mixed with other related varieties imported from India and with Ethiopian native varieties. Today, there are many Bourbon-like varieties in East Africa, but none of them exactly resembles the Bourbon variety found in Latin America. In Latin America, it has now largely been replaced by varieties derived from it (notably Caturra, Catuai and Mundo Novo).
Red Bourbon is then the most widely produced Bourbon variant. In Rwanda and Burundi it is even legislated that Red Bourbon is the only imported variety that can be grown. This is mainly due to the fear of importing coffee diseases, as the Bourbon variety is quite sensitive.
Processing:
Karambi is processed in a purely washed way. After the beans were pulped, they were fermented with the mucilage for over 20 hours, then washed several times and placed on african beds.
Our baristas notes:
Espresso in different two ways.
It’s rare that we can set up one coffee in the roastery that tastes great on two such different recipes. We’ll try to give you a closer look on each one so you can choose which one is right for you.
1. Full-bodied, balanced espresso
The recipe came out at a ratio of 1 : 2.11 with a time of around 32 seconds. The espresso has a nice medium citric acidity and a round medium sweet body with a stronger aftertaste. On the body, notes of red orange and pomelo stand out, slowly giving way to flavours of caramel and dark chocolate. The milk is dominated by the sweet and creamy taste of chocolate yoghurt.
2. Juicy espresso with higher acidity
The recipe came out at a ratio of 1 : 2.23 in a time of around 26 seconds. The espresso has a higher phosphoric and malic acidity and a lower medium body with a light aftertaste. The body of the coffee is really juicy and lighter in character. The dominant notes reminded us of currant pie and tropical fruit juice with a caramel finish. In milk, the coffee is lighter and reminiscent of a caramel cheesecake.
