TRULY UNIQUE

Nyamasheke / 2000 m.a.s.l. / Red Bourbon / Anoxic Natural / SCA - 88.75p

Built in 2017, Shyira Washing Station is a station situated at 2000 masl., collecting cherry from neighbouring producers that live between 2000 - 2400 masl. This is the highest grown coffee we know of in Rwanda, and it’s from a region where very few washing stations are located, making it somewhat unique. Throughout the day groups of staff join together in song, dancing in the fermentation tanks, singing through five iterations of their song while stomping on the parchment. The process takes about 20 minutes and all the while, the fermentation process is assisted with the agitation of the coffee during the fermentation stage.

Once cherries are received, they are hand-picked and floated. These cherries are placed into a deep cleaned fermentation tank. A sheet is then placed over the cherries, which is then submerged with cool water, creating an anoxic environment for fermentation to begin, which lasts for 48 hours. The water and sheet act as not only a sealant, but a heat exchange, allowing the heat build up to transfer to the water, which evaporates away. A stabilised temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius ensures that the cherry doesn’t over ferment.
Once the fermentation is complete, the water is drained, and the sheet is removed. The now fermented coffee is rinsed and drained of all residual liquid.

To continue into the natural processing phase, coffee is dried in cherry on raised beds for between 4 to 5 weeks. The raised beds ensure optimum circulation of airflow, assisted by the cherry being turned every 30 minutes of the duration of its drying.