Rwanda Archetype Espresso Coffee

Wholebeans only. This is a delightfully fruity natural processed coffee from the Horizon Supreme washing station. We get notes of juicy red berries, candied orange and smooth milk chocolate.

• CULTIVAR: Red Bourbon
• PREPARATION: Natural
• LOCATION: Southern Province
• ALTITUDE: 1,700 masl

Our ARCHETYPE espresso aims to showcase coffees which are shining examples of a particular region or origin.

Rwanda is blessed with ideal coffee growing conditions that include high altitude, regular rainfall, volcanic soil with good organic structure and an abundance of Bourbon. The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholders of which there are thought to be around half a million with parcels of land often not much larger than just one hectare per family. Coffee is grown in most parts of the country, with particularly large concentrations along Lake Kivu and in the southern province. Rwandan smallholders organise themselves into cooperatives and share the services of centralised wet-mills – or washing stations as they are known locally.

Horizon Supreme is a washing station located in the hills of southern Rwanda, where a combination of high altitude and good rains contribute to some of the highest quality coffees from the country. Leo Fidele Ndagijimana purchased the wet mill from a previous owner who had failed to operate it and was not able to process coffee for many years. After buying the washing station end of 2018, Fidele replaced and fixed the mill’s machinery and used his experience from managing washing stations in the western Rwanda to create a new benchmark for quality.

Fidele named the wet mill Horizon to guide his vision of processing quality coffee. The station receives cherry from very small farmers in the area and processes the separate lots by the week they are delivered.