Episode 323 on Monday January 19th, 2015. Rwanda Micof Mibirizi Bourbon Washed

Located in the South West of Rwanda, Mibirizi Coffee Washing Station is owned by the Nile Congo Mountains Coffee company and is situated almost 5600 feet (1750 m) above sea level, with an average rainfall of 2000 mm per year and an average temperature of 22°C.

This is the heart of the splendid Mibirizi “terroir” between the high altitude Lake Kivu and the Nile Congo Crest, the region where the first Bourbon Arabica coffee trees were successfully planted and harvested 100 years ago in Rwanda. NCMC was created in 2004, a decade after the genocide, by three entrepreneurs who returned home to assist in the rehabilitation of the plantations of thousands of small holder farmers and invested in the production and the commercialization of a high quality fully washed coffee.

The Mibirizi coffee undergoes meticulous processing and quality control beginning with careful selection. When the cherries are fully ripe, they are carefully picked. After pulping, the dry and wet fermentation process follows, and the beans are fully washed with spring water from the mountains. Finally the beans are slowly sun-dried and hand sorted many times to perfection by women, many of them survivors of the genocide who work hand-in-hand with their neighbours.

Each season, Mibirizi CWS employs an average of 150 people over a period of three months; of those, around 70% are women. Since 2006, this coffee has always emerged among the best coffees in Rwanda. In the 2006 National Cupping Competition, the coffee obtained the second highest score in a contest involving more than 70 different samples of fully washed coffees. In the 2007 Rwanda Golden Cup, it emerged 7th in more than 100 samples. And in the Cup of Excellence 2012, Mibirizi coffee came third and fifth and in 2013 second and eighth with two different lots. In fact we bought the 5th place 2012 lot and have missed it ever since

In the cup it has a huge mouthfeel, with caramel and butterscotch sweetness, unlike the previous lot we had this has huge amounts lemon citrus acidity and a tea like finish. 

* Farmer: Multiple farmers on lot 
* Farm: NCMC Mibirizi Washing Station
* City: Rusizi
* Region: Western 
* Country: Rwanda 
* Altitude: 1,750 m.a.s.l. 
* Variety: Bourbon 
* Processing System: Washed