Roast Level: Medium
Variety: Bourbon
Process: Washed
Producer: Women owned smallholder farms
Mill: Boza Washing Station
Region: Idjwi Island
Altitude: 1480-2000 meters
Harvest: 2022
Tasting Notes: Tropical fruit aromatics, with flavor notes of nectarine, blackberry, and spice, with a caramelly finish.
Photos by Atlas Coffee Importers.
This coffee was processed at the Boza washing station, on the shore of Lake Kivu on Idjwi Island, with producers harvesting cherry up to 2,000masl. The washing station is part of a larger project called Rebuild Women’s Hope, founded by coffee farmer Marcelline Budza. Her vision is to put women at the center of integral community development, and she sees building the hope of women as building the hope of the entire nation. Marcelline is a pioneer of gender equity in a country that traditionally puts less value on women. Most of the smallholder farmers and washing station employees producing this coffee are women.
Bourbon is a pretty ubiquitous variety, grown at many coffee origins. What is special about this one though, is the location of the coffee trees. They are grown alongside pineapples in unique island terroir. The wet processing and sorting is impeccable, with the end result being a very clean, defect free coffee, with notes representative of where it was grown.
A tropical fruit fragrance arises upon grinding the coffee, with a slightly floral, citrusy aroma once brewed; orange or bergamot depending on brew method. These aromas give way to flavors of nectarine, apple, spice, and blackberry, with a caramelly finish.
KS Coffee owner, Karen, had the opportunity to meet Marcelline Budza while she was visiting Vermont after the 2019 SCA conference in Boston. It was clear at the cupping table that she had a keen eye for quality. Marcelline founded the Rebuild Women’s Hope Cooperative on Idjwi Island in Lake Kivu, and was recently awarded the Human Riights Prize of the French Republic. Here are a few words from an interview conducted by Atlas Coffee Importers (full Atlas interview):
“I am passionate about coffee, and I found that coffee could provide for the needs of women, because women on Idjwi know about the cultivation of coffee.
Men used to say that coffee was a sector for men, and not for women, but it is women who work all day in the field until the harvest, and when it’s time to sell and market the coffee, the man takes care of it. As a result, income from coffee sales was not used for the benefit of the family and was instead spent on the man’s friends, beer, and polygamy until the money ran out. In the meantime, women were at home with their children, still needing to provide for all their needs in life. This situation displeased me and I told myself that we should fight for the causes of these women.
In addition, we found that the Idjwi-South had great coffee potential but that its people did not benefit or profit from it. Due to the lack of coffee washing stations, coffee was processed at home and smuggled illegally into neighboring countries by boat, which resulted in loss of coffee and of lives.
Around 250 women from the cooperative benefited from income-generating training, which allows them to take care of themselves during off-season periods. RWH organized the following trainings: how to grow market gardening; literacy courses; business skills; and how to make and sell soap.
During the coffee season, female cooperative members come to work every day and are able to earn a living. For example, some use the funds to pay for their children’s school fees; others build or improve their houses.
The general population has benefited from adding a potable drinking water supply, and this has reduced infectious diseases. “