A private station, Buzira was started in 2010 with a highly experienced management team. Owner Salume Ramadhan and manager Cassien Nibaruta are keen to establish the mill as a state of the art facility to serve as a model for other washing stations in Burundi.
Very well equipped, every stage of the delivery, sorting, pulping, fermentation and drying process at Buzira is closely monitored and continuously adjusted to produce optimum results.
Water comes from a small river in the nearby Kibira forest, and is filtered through sand, gravel and rock before going into the 3 disc Mckinnon pulper and the floatation tanks.
The parchment will normally dry ferment for the first night or 18 to 36 hours, before being vigorously washed and sent for another 20-30 hour post-soak. They are then passed over to the drying tables and spread out to be dried while rotated and hand sorted.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Burundi Buzira Kayanza, from Square Mile Coffee Roasters in London, England. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THE BASICS:
region: Kayanza, Burundi
farm/factory: Buziraguhindwa (“Buzira”) Washing Station
producer: smallholder farmers
association: N/A
elevation: 1940 meters above sea level
cultivars: Bourbon
process: fully washed, raised bed dried
certifications: standard
THE COFFEE:
The aroma of the Buzira Kayanza is bright and comes bounding out of the bag like antelopes across the wild African plains. Sweetness and tartness slam together with potent mixed berries, tropical flowers, raisin, and lemon rind.
The aroma, however, isn’t indicative of the first few sips of the coffee immediately post-brew. It’s sweet, but in muted (but confectious) tones, with flavors of marzipan, raisin bread, cinnamon roll, vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar; what’s more prevalent at this point are the spices and savories—spicy ginger cake, cinnamon, and coriander.
As the coffee cools, however, it suddenly bursts to life, becoming intensely bright, sweet, and mildly tart. Beautiful flavors of blueberry, tart raspberry, bitter blackberry, and sweet strawberry all mix with black currant, passion fruit, kumquat, and zesty lemon before finishing with a flourish of rose hip aromatics.
Medium body; silky mouthfeel; citrus acidity; clean finish.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The first cup I made of Square Mile’s Burundi Buzira Kayanza was, unfortunately, tainted by the dreaded “potato defect.” Every cup after that, though…
Look, this coffee is incredible. I’m not sure what else to say. While it starts off spicy and savory, it finishes off bright, intense, wild, and tropical.
This coffee is just shy of being palate breaking. Almost a total palate overload. I’m sure it would have been were it not so damn tasty.
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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.