Nyanyumba

Anaerobic Natural

Soho is proud to present a coffee which would be familiar to our regular customers, Rwanda's Nyanyumba. Sold as a part of our November 2022 Seasonal Blend and as its own free standing single origin coffee, this coffee highlights bright lime flavours followed by juicy cherry undertones. Our friends at Sucafina have provided us with some information about the 1410+ growers delivering to Nyanyumba's station in the Western Province.

Brewing Tips

Nyanyumba is a deliciously lime-y coffee that can be enjoyed in a syrupy espresso or as a light brew. Like many citrus forward coffees, it is important to strike a balance between the citrus and sweet notes to ensure your cup isn't sour.

Suggested brewing recipes:

For Espresso:

21g in, 45ml out at 30 seconds

(5 seconds until first drop, 9 bar pressure, no pre-infusion)

For Pour Over:

20g in, 300ml out at 3 minutes 20 seconds

(30 second bloom, 60ml intervals, some agitation)

About this coffee

Nyamyumba station was built in 2006. It has the capacity to process up to 496 tons of cherry annually. Farmers cultivate an average of 400 trees at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level.

Coffee Details

SUBREGION/TOWN: Rubavu, Nyamyumba

REGION: Western Province

FARM SIZE: 400 trees on average

BAG SIZE: 60kg GrainPro or Ecotact

HARVEST MONTHS: March - June

Cultivation

The coffee delivered to Nyamyumba Station is grown in nutrient-rich volcanic clay soils along the high-altitude hills of the Congo Nile Trail. The section that passes Nyamyumba station features beautiful landscapes of rolling hills and views of the clear waters of Lake Kivu. The land around Nyamyumba is also part of the Gishwati National Forest.

Harvest and Post-Harvest

After purchasing cherry from producers, Nyamyumba sends the cherry through a strict sorting process. First, washing station staff remove any lower quality cherry through flotation. Then, a specially trained staff visually inspects the remaining cherry for any visual defects.

Then, cherry is placed in tanks to ferment. Cherry ferments anaerobically (without oxygen) in covered, airtight tanks for 24 to 72 hours. Following fermentation, cherry is moved to raised beds to dry. Cherry is turned frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 30 days for cherry to dry.

From Sucafina Rwanda (Rwacof)

In concert with our sustainability partner, Kahawatu Foundation, Sucafina Rwanda invests heavily in yield improvements, farmer training, quality improvement projects, environmental sustainability and other ways to increase farmer livelihoods.

Sucafina Rwanda’s Farmer Development Program in partnership with the London School of Economics (LSE) supports farmers with training in Good Agricultural Practices and access to loans, farm inputs and farm services. A new soil health initiative uses soil analysis data that Sucafina Rwanda collected to identify farms where soil is too acidic. Lime, along with education about application, is distributed to these farmers to help improve soil quality. Additionally, seedling nurseries provide up to 4 million seedlings per year to help farmers renovate their rootstock.

Sucafina Rwanda also has many projects that are designed to support farmers’ overall livelihoods. They focus on gender equality and support several women’s cooperatives by helping them access land, seedlings and reach a market for their coffees. They offer trainings on financial literacy and alternative income-generating activities.

The Farmer Hub program built retail shops that buy other crops from farmers and sell them to families and schools at fair prices. These retail shops help promote income diversification by creating a market for other crops and they supply nutritious foods at competitive prices. The Farmer Hub program also offers loans to farmers as part of the farm management program.

On the environmental side, Sucafina Rwanda has worked with partners to help install solar panels at 2 washing stations that are off the electrical grid. Sucafina Rwanda’s dry mill already have a 50 kilowatt-per-hour solar panel set up on their roof. They’ve also mapped carbon emissions in their coffee supply chain and are starting projects to half their emissions per kg of coffee. Two ways they’re accomplishing this is by facilitating a transition from inorganic to organic fertilizer and further improve waste (water and pulp) management at the wet mills. They’re also working with Trade in Space to map deforestation in the supply chain so that they can begin to work with farmers to reduce deforestation and improve forested areas in the supply chain.

Above all, Sucafina Rwanda's exceptional attention to detail during post-harvest activities ensures the best quality coffee possible. From the moment cherry enters the washing station until it is milled and bagged for export, Sucafina Rwanda keeps stringent quality controls in place. They know, as we do, that high-quality coffee is crucial for delivering benefit all along the supply chain.

Coffee in Rwanda

Despite its turbulent history, today Rwanda is one of the specialty coffee world’s darlings – for good reason! Our sister company in Rwanda does an amazing job of bringing the best that Rwanda has to offer to roasters around the world.

German missionaries and settlers brought coffee to Rwanda in the early 1900s. Largescale coffee production was established during the 1930 & 1940s by the Belgian colonial government. Coffee production continued after the Belgian colonists left. By 1970, coffee had become the single largest export in Rwanda and accounted for 70% of total export revenue. Coffee was considered so valuable that, beginning in 1973, it was illegal to tear coffee trees out of the ground.

Between 1989 and 1993, the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) caused the global price to plummet. The Rwandan government and economy took a hard hit from low global coffee prices. The 1994 genocide and its aftermath led to a complete collapse of coffee exports and vital USD revenue, but the incredible resilience of the Rwandan people is evident in the way the economy and stability have recovered since then.

Modern Rwanda is considered one of the most stable countries in the region. Since 2003, its economy has grown by 7-8% per year and coffee production has played a key role in this economic growth. Coffee has also played a role in Rwanda's significant advancements towards gender equality. New initiatives that cater to women and focus on helping them equip themselves with the tools and knowledge for farming have been changing the way women view themselves and interact with the world around them.

Today, smallholders propel the industry in Rwanda forward. The country doesn’t have any large estates. Most coffee is grown by the 400,000+ smallholders, who own less than a  quarter of a hectare. The majority of Rwanda’s coffee production is Arabica. Bourbon variety plants comprise 95% of all coffee trees cultivated in Rwanda.

Your roasting pal,

Maddie