PRACTICE GREEN COFFEE | Rwanda | Washed
Price is shown per 5kg box
| Producer: | Horizon |
| Location: | Huye District, Southern Province |
| Varietal: | Red Bourbon |
| Process: | Washed |
| Altitude: |
1700 masl |
| Cup Score: | - |
| Cup profile: | Orange, caramel, milk chocolate, brown sugar. |
This was once a fantastic coffee, and while it still has lots of character, *full disclosure* it has past its best. We hate to see coffee go to waste and so we're selling what we have left as 'practice coffee'. If you need some green coffee to hone your skills on and practice your curves, or if you just need some beans to season a new roaster but don't want to sacrifice something more precious, then look no further.
Rwanda is a country with ideal conditions for growing coffee, including high altitude, frequent rainfall, volcanic soils with good organic structure, and a high concentration of Bourbon. Most of the coffee in Rwanda is produced by smallholder farmers, with an estimated number of around half a million. These farmers usually have small parcels of land, often not exceeding one hectare per family. Coffee is grown in most parts of the country, with significant concentrations along Lake Kivu and in the southern province.
The smallholder farmers in Rwanda organise themselves into cooperatives and use centralised wet mills, which are locally known as washing stations. The flowering period takes place between September and October, while the harvest runs from March to July. The shipments start from August through December. In the hills of southern Rwanda lies the Horizon Supreme washing station. The high altitude and good rains make it one of the most exceptional coffee-producing areas in the country.
Leo Fidele Ndagijimana is the owner of Horizon Supreme, which he bought in 2018 from a previous owner who had failed to operate it for many years. After purchasing the washing station, Fidele replaced and fixed the mill's machinery, drawing upon his experience managing washing stations in western Rwanda. He wanted to create a new benchmark for quality and named the wet mill Horizon to guide his vision of processing quality coffee. The station receives cherries from small farmers in the area and separates the lots by the week they are delivered.
For the upcoming harvest, the Horizon team is focused on scaling up the systems they’ve put in place.