Burundi Migoti Hill
Burundi Migoti Hill Espresso Roast.
This year we have had so many coffees from Burundi, it seems to have been a busy month keeping up and sharing the lots. I think they have all been fantastic and this is the final washed lot for the season. Boo!
However lovely alternative processes can be, there is magic in more traditional processing methods when done well. As I have often said in coffee, variety is the spice. Migoti Hill is my absolute favourite of our Burundis, to date. As a filter roast, it is so sweet and delicate and in espresso, it is just a beautiful drink, in and out of milk.
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Name: Migoti Hill
Location: Mutambu Commune of Bujumbura Province Western Burundi
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Number of farmers: 500+
Washing station manager: Zephyrin Banzubaze
Processing method: Fully Washed
The altitude of the farms: 1700 – 1900 masl
Average plantation size: 1-5 acres
Soil: Sandy, Clay, loamy Soil
Roast: Espresso We have the lighter filter/ One Roast here
Espresso Recipe: Starting at 93.5C
Milk-based drinks: 1:2 (16-18g of coffee into 32-35g of espresso) in 26-30-ish seconds
Espresso: 16-18g of coffee into 45-50g of liquid in 30-36 seconds. This is where you get that compressed juicy intensity that espresso does quite unlike anything else.
9oz Milk-based drink. Soft, Lime and caramel, lactic sugars.
6oz Milk-based drink. The sweet citrus pushes through the dairy and makes a lime-curd-like drink. Super sweet.
Espresso: Due to the roast, this is developed enough to be sweet, but of course not roasty. This is like a compressed filter, just I wouldn’t recommend tasting them side by side, as they are different drinks in many ways.
About Migoti Hill:
This coffee is from our friends at Omwani. Founded in 2018, by two Brits who wanted to do business differently in East Africa. Arguably amongst some of the best coffee terroir in the world with some of the least reward.
Setting the scene: Burundi has agriculture at the heart of its economy, with a staggering 70% of its population living in poverty. Burundi has one of the highest reputations for the quality of coffee in Africa. Most coffee in Burundi is grown on small plots and although the soil is volcanic and rich, it can also suffer from erosion, and coffee plants are often grown longer than their peak of production. There is little or no help with fertilizers on a governmental level. Buying and moving coffee from Burundi can be a huge challenge and that is why it is so convenient to work as we do.
Migoti Hill (washing station) is situated in an area known as Migoti Mountain. Having 10 permanent and up to 250 temporary workers during the harvest time (May to June). Zephyrin Banzubaze, manager of the washing station has to organise the staff as well as train and support the smallholder farmers. He has to oversee the receiving and selecting of coffees, drying storage, and the final stages of preparation for export. Migoti also assists farmers through ongoing education to prune and properly care for coffee trees, intercrop, plant shade trees, utilize green fertilizers, stabilize soils, and natural pest control. The expectation is that by following best farming practices the farmers can increase the yields from their coffee trees.
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