Washing Station: Musasa Mbilima
Varietal: 100% Red Bourbon
Processing: Fully washed & sun-dried on raised beds
Altitude: Washing Station 2020 meters above sea level
Farms 1,700 to 2,000 meters above sea level
Owner: Musasa Mbilima – some 2,148 smallholder farmers
Coko Sector, Gakenke District of Northern Province
Avg.size of farms: .25 (1/4) hectares
Musasa Dukunde Kawa Mbilima is the second of three mills, from Musasa, based in the rugged northwest of Rwanda.
Every coffee that is delivered to the mill by a grower has a ticket. That ticket is with the coffee all of the way through its processing.
At the mill (s) typically women will sort through the coffee and pick out greens (unripe cherries) before and after fermentation. Picking over and re-picking increases the cup potential every time.
This is a mind-blowing administrative task… however the detail has doubled farmers income in recent years, through you and us paying a sustainable price.
Some useful Kinyarwanda : Musasa means “Place to make a bed” and Dukunde Kawa means “Let’s love coffee!” as a term of empowerment and endurance.
