The Kayanza growing region is known for producing some of the best coffee in country and the Mpanga washing station, where this coffee was processed, is one of the best. In fact, coffee from the Mpanga washing station took first and third place in the most recent Burundi Cup of Excellence competition.
This lot hails from Nyangwe, a community located on the hillsides above the Mpanga Washing Station; Mpanga Washing Station is operated by a company called SEGEC. This microlot is the contribution of about 3,400 farmers who live and work around Nywange. These farmers bring coffee cherries to the washing station, where milling, drying, and sorting takes place. Premiums are paid to farmers based on the quality of cherry delivered to the station.
This microlot is 100% Bourbon varietal and is grown at 1750 meters; the coffee is processed in a traditional manner—pulping of the coffee cherry, dry fermentation, washing of the coffee beans and then a second soaking in fresh water before the beans are dried on raised beds.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping a cup of Burundi Nyangwe Microlot, from Bootstrap Coffee Roasters in St. Paul, Minnesota. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS:
region: Kayanza, Burundi
farm: Mpanga Washing Station
producer: smallholder farmers
association: SEGEC
elevation: 1750 meters above sea level
cultivars: Bourbon
process: fully washed, raised bed dried
certifications: standard
CUPPINGNOTES:
The aroma of the Burundi Nyangwe is wild; bright and lively, it comes exploding out of the bag with intense scents of tropical fruits, honey, and a whole bouquet of floral aromatics.
Taking my first few sips of the cup immediately post-brew, my palate is engulfed by a massively full-bodied coffee which is characterized by a honeyed and juicy (supple, really) mouthfeel. Honey, cane sugar, and milk chocolate coat the palate while a dusting of roasted hazelnut and floral aromatics flutter throughout the finish.
As the cup cools off, it reveals more and more layers. This is a coffee that runs long and deep with tons of complexities. Tons of bright, tart, lively, juicy tropical fruits gush over the palate: cranberry, raisin, plum, apple, honeydew, strawberry, orange peel, pomegranate, and lime acidity ride out a caramel soaked finish.
Full body; supple mouthfeel; complex acidity; clean finish.
FINALTHOUGHTS:
Wowwy, this was one wild coffee. What’s even more remarkable about it was that it just kept going. It exhibited so much depth, so much flavor, so much intensity, and so much complexity.
Bootstrap Coffee Roasters’s Burundi Nyangwe is a coffee that just doesn’t quit.
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.