LIGHT & JUICY

Nyamasheke / 2000 m.a.s.l. / Red Bourbon / Washed / SCA - 85.75p

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.

After an initial sort, the coffee is fermented in dedicated concrete fermentation tanks for an average of 12 hours. During this time, the fermented parchment is agitated several times through the day by way of ceremonial foot-stomping. This is to encourage lower density parchment to float and to clean any residual mucilage off the parchment. Parchment is then laid out to dry where it is turned on a regular basis throughout the day.

After fermentation, coffee is released into a large serpentine grading channel. Once the parchment is separated into grades, it is given a final post-wash rinse. At this point, coffee is taken to a pre-drying area where the parchment is hand-sorted removing any insect-damaged, discoloured or chipped coffee. The parchment is laid out to dry and turned on a regular basis throughout the day for 30 days.