Natural processed coffee from Huye!

Simbi Coffee is a cooperative group based in Huye District, Southern Province, Rwanda. Their washing station was established in 2011 and since then they have strived to maintain strict standards of selection and processing to continue producing high-quality coffee every season. Simbi consists of 1,850 members, 80% of whom are women. This natural micro-lot comes from 300 smallholder farmers in the Rugarama area. These farmers grow Bourbon varieties at altitudes between 1,710 and 1,850 meters above sea level.

The Huye district was one of the first to produce the highest quality specialty coffees in the country. Like much of Rwanda – the “land of a thousand hills” – the terrain is mountainous, rugged and exceptionally beautiful. Rich volcanic soils, abundant sunshine and tropical rainfall provide exceptional conditions for growing Arabica, and the Bourbon variety particularly excels in the high altitudes of Rwanda’s mountains.

There are believed to be around half a million small-scale coffee farmers in Rwanda. These producers each cultivate small plots of land around their homes, rarely larger than one hectare, but together they represent the vast majority of the country’s production. In the Simbi micro-region of the Maraba area, the emergence of specialty coffee as a sustainable cash crop has brought hope for a better future. Ripe berries are carefully selected and then dried in the sun on raised beds for 30–60 days, depending on climatic conditions.

The history of coffee in Rwanda

The commercialization of coffee was gradual in Rwanda, and coffee was always produced by smallholders. Independence brought some improvements to the coffee infrastructure as the government established a more modern and centralized processing. But this meant that the government set the price they would pay for coffee and farmers had no other options. There was no focus on quality because there were no incentives at all. Although much of the coffee was bourbon, there was no sorting or grading, so all the coffee was of commercial quality. Rwanda exported 642,000 bags of coffee in 1993 and 447,000 in 1994. Then, as a stark reminder of the genocide, Rwanda exported only 22,000 bags in 1995. Today, Rwanda exports only 43% of what it did in 1993, but current exports represent much greater value because the focus over the past 20 years has been on quality rather than quantity. Rwanda’s ideal growing conditions are no longer wasted on poor processing. New washing stations have opened in all coffee growing regions, innovative cupping laboratories are delivered built into shipping containers, and cooperatives have been established. Over the past 15 years, Rwandan specialty coffees have consistently ranked among the finest in the world.

Facts about coffee:

• Rwanda, Huye
• Score: 85.5/100
• Grows: 1710-1850 m.a.s.l.
• Arabica: Bourbon
• Process: Natural
• Flavor notes of red berries, nectarine and punch

We ship coffee that has rested up to 3 weeks after roasting when available but roast to order when needed. We ship the coffee as quickly as possible, free shipping on all orders over 699kr within Sweden.