Mugano, Burundi

Origin

• 🇧🇮 Burundi

Tasting notes

Character

• Funky
  20

In the heart of Burundi, the Gitega, Rutana and Bururi provinces join together at the peaks of an impressive mountain range. Here, the Cup of ExcellenceCup of Excellence (COE)A national competition and auction that identifies a country's best lots each year; winning 'COE' lots command dramatic price premiums. award-winning Mahonda washing stationWashing stationA central mill where many smallholder farmers deliver cherry for processing. In Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda the station name (e.g. Idido) often identifies the coffee. sources coffee cherries from local high-elevation smallholderSmallholderA farmer growing coffee on a small family plot — often under two hectares. Most of the world's coffee is grown this way, typically pooled at cooperatives or washing stations. farmers of the region, processing the fruit into some of the best Burundian coffee we’ve yet to taste. This particular lot, Mugano, was selected from the top harvests of about 40 local farmers. They utilize many of the specialty coffee industry’s best practices, in part because these farmers have been receiving competitive premium prices for their high-quality coffee cherries. This is one of the last washing stations to open in the area, because at this elevation, while flowering happens at the same time as other trees in the central region, cherries take longer to mature. That extra time generates more complex sugars, bringing a naturalNatural processThe whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Gives heavier body and big fruit flavors — think berries and wine — sometimes with a fermenty edge. sweetness to the coffee. Cooler weather also means a longer fermentation period of 16 to 18 hours rather than the standard 12 to 14 hours of others. Some of the best Burundian coffee we’ve yet to taste, this lot from Mugano drips with flavors of kiwi and peach.