Rwanda Isimbi
COFFEE ORIGIN:Rwanda
REGION: Rwamagana
CROP YEAR: 2022
PROCESS:Washed
VARIETAL/S:Bourbon
Grown in the Rwamagana district in the eastern part of Rwanda - an area inhabited mainly by small-holder farmers - the Isimbi blend is inspired by its namesake, the Kinyarwanda word for the white at the top of a volcano that’s also used to refer to something pure. This clean and consistent blend is selected by the Sucafina QC team in Rwanda.
Coffee production in Rwanda began in the early 1900s by German missionaries and settlers with production increasing in the 1930s and 1940s through the Belgian government and contiued after they left. By 1970, coffee was the largest export for Rwanda (70% of total export revenue) and was considered so valuable that it was illegal to remove coffee trees from the ground.
The turbulent times of the 1990s and 1994 Genocide in Rwanda caused the complete collapse of coffee exports although it has since started to recover with over 400 000 smallholder farmers (who own less that a quarter of a hectare) driving the coffee industry forward.
Hand-sorting picked coffee cherries in Rwanda (source: Sucafina)