An exquisite Rwandan natural

Strawberry, Blueberry, Chocolate

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We purchased two great coffees from the same cooperative this year. They are both delicious but distinctly different. Naturally processed coffees, dried in the whole cherry are dominated by fruit notes, while washed coffees, where most of the skin and mucilage are removed have more classic coffee flavors of chocolate and brown sugars. This set is an opportunity to understand the huge influence, in coffee flavor, that processing method makes. It's an opportunity to learn about coffee in a way that is sometimes only available to coffee professionals.

Dukunde Natural Tasting Notes

This coffee opens with the unmistakable flavors of strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate. The pleasant acidity associated with strawberry is balanced by a chocolate sweetness. As the taste lingers, the strawberry fades into banana, which mixes with the heavy chocolate body into something truly amazing.

Producer Notes

Founded in 2000, The Dukunde Kawa Musasa Cooperative cultivates its high-quality coffee near a mountain gorilla habitat at around 1,800masl, in Rwanda's rugged North-West. By producing high-end coffee for the international market and employing a majority female workforce, the cooperative ensures maximum benefits to local families. In 2003, it built a washing station with funds provided by the Rwandan ministry of defense. In exchange for this support, the Dukunde Kawa donates 10 percent of its net profits annually to fund the construction of other washing stations throughout Rwanda.

Fairtrade Certified since 2004, Dukunde Kawa secures a high standard of living for Rwandan farmers by ensuring access to an economically and environmentally sustainable coffee industry. Before the proliferation of washing stations such as those owned by the co-op, the norm in Rwanda was for smallholder farmers to sell semi-processed cherries to middle-men, bringing low prices and severe hardship to farmers. Today it's a different story: farmers who work with the co-op have seen their income at least double.

Eighty percent of Dukunde Kawa's producers are women. Each member has been able to buy a farm animal, and many now have health insurance for the first time. Dukunde Kawa also constructed 2 schools for local children in 2006 and provides members with long-term credit at no interest. Many farmers renovated their homes and now all members’ homes have tile rather than grass roofs.

Varieties: Local Bourbon

Processing Method: Natural

How to brew

This coffee produces great cups with a wide range of brew techniques. We recommend using between a 1:12 and 1:15 brew ratio and steeping with water between 195-205℉ for no more than three and a half minutes.

Current Black Oak Tasting Club Coffees