This coffee comes from the Kawa Kabuya Cooperative located outside of the city of Butembo in North Kivu. Kawa Kabuya Cooperative is part of a larger network of 4 cooperatives made up of around 4,800 farmer members total: Kawa Kabuya, Kawa Kanzururu, Kawa Mabera, and Kawa Kenja. The Kawa Kabuya Cooperative itself is comprised of as many as 20 participating micro mills where the coffee is wet milled before moving to the CAFEKIT dry mill in Butembo. Kawa Kabuya and the other affiliated cooperatives are a product of relationships between local farmers and international NGO’s who’s main goal is to improve farmer livelihood. By increasing the amount of specialty grade coffee produced for these lots, the cooperative is aiming to have doubled member incomes this year.*
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Congo Kawa Kabuya, from Rising Star Coffee Roasters in Cleveland, Ohio, courtesy of Craft Coffee. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS
region: North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
farm: N/A
producer: smallholder farmers
association: Kawa Kabuya Cooperative
elevation: 1500 – 1800 meters above sea level
cultivars: Kairo, Maragogype
process: fully washed, patio dried
CUPPINGNOTES
The aroma of the Congo Kawa Kabuya is both rich and bright. It’s a fruit-forward coffee with lively scents of cherry, melon, apple, and lemon. The coffee also features sweet salted caramel.
Diving into my first few sips, this is a unique cup of coffee—a little fuller bodied, smooth, velvety and elegant, with a deep, rich syrupy body. It has a little brightness to it but nothing like its more acidic African cousins. Again, notes of deep black cherry, melon, Fuji apple, and a tart lemon drop acidity. Honey and dark chocolate serve as the backbone while soft hibiscus plays through the finish.
*content courtesy of Burman Coffee
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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.