Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90
Rwanda - Musha Lot N90

Rwanda - Musha Lot N90

55.00 Sale Save

blueberry, caramelized dates, dark plum, bakers chocolate

Roast Profile
Grind Size

Producer: Baho Coffee / Emmanuel Rusatira
Location: Rwamagana District
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Natural Anaerobic
Altitude: 1600 MASL
Crop Year: 2022

Fermentation
Sweetness ▪▪▪
Acidity ▪▪▪▫▫
Roast ▪▫

Emmanuel Rusatira founded Baho Coffee, intending to help to improve the livelihood of small coffee farmers in Rwanda. His empathy for their life struggles stems from having been born into a smallholding coffee-farming family himself.

He came to a deeper understanding of the material challenges they face throughout his years directly working with them as a coffee washing station manager and realized the true extent of their plight when he oversaw upwards of 30 washing stations across the country when he was working as a Department Head of Specialty, Sustainability, and Certification.

The foundations for a quality-focused coffee industry established by the Rwandese government to revive the nation after the 1994 genocide —where Emmanuel lost his parents and brother — served not only as a source of hope for survivors like him but also served as the solid ground upon which they could rebuild their lives.

Emmanuel decided that the evocative Rwandese word "baho," literally meaning "have life," best captures and conveys his company's reason for being — which is for his smallholding coffee farmer partners to have better lives.

546 smallholder farmers bring their harvest to the Musha Washing Station, which is located in Eastern Rwanda, adjacent to the capital city of Kigali. It is one of the 11 washing stations in Rwamagana that have been rehabilitated as part of their District Development Strategy from 2018 to 2024, which aims to increase citizens' quality of life through increased production of lucrative crops like coffee.

Farmers that deliver to Musha are recognized and rewarded by Baho Coffee for providing high-quality cherries to the washing station through premium prices and a second, bonus payment. On top of that, the company extends educational, financial, and agricultural services to these farmers and has set up several social programs focused on more marginalized segments within the farming community, like women, the elderly, and the youth.

Bourbon is the only variety that made it to the Cup of Excellence the last time the auction was conducted in Rwanda. This points to Bourbon’s propensity for taking in the best qualities of terroir, which then translate into desirable qualities in the cup.

Amid a dominantly washed process-oriented industry, Emmanuel sought to be one of the pioneers of natural and honey processing in Rwanda after visiting Costa Rica, where he witnessed how these methods could multiply the trajectories of flavor creation.

He applied this learning in Baho to widen their coffees’ range of flavors beyond the usual associations with the bold brightness of classic Kenyans and hints of Ethiopian florality. This micro-lot went through the natural anaerobic process to bring out intense, sticky sweetness alongside a rich chocolate character that is balanced by a discreet, barely there acidity.

At Baho Coffee, the initial steps to process cherries are standardized. It starts with a day of intensive sorting in full shade to ensure only the ripest of cherries picked not more than 2 to 3 hours prior, and without any visible defects, proceed to the next steps. The sorted cherries are then floated in a large container, whereby the floaters are removed, and only the densest ones go into processing as higher-grade lots.

In this case, the densest cherries were fermented in sealed containers after sorting, to amplify the sugars and soften acidity. Then, they were placed directly on drying beds within a custom-built parabolic drying facility, akin to a greenhouse, to protect them from rain and too much sunlight. This drying phase can last from 50 to 55 days.

During this period, the cherries are layered singly with a maximum depth of 2 to 4 cm and turned hourly for the first five days, and then every two hours until day 20. The ambient temperature and that of the coffee are closely monitored to control the pace of drying with the intention of keeping it slow.

By recording temperature and moisture at regular intervals daily, the processing team can adjust their activities accordingly whenever key drying indicators fall outside the target thresholds. For example, workers might shift the cherries more frequently or cover them with a mesh, or both, to prevent over-fermentation and the formation of molds, which would otherwise turn up in the cup as undesirable flavors indicative of defects.

The drying phase ends upon reaching a moisture content of 11%, at which point the coffee in dried cherry is packed and kept in a dry warehouse until it needs to be milled.

brewing guide

- Ready your brewing tools ahead.
- Keep your coffee gear and containers clean.
- Decide and adjust your grind size based on:
— Your coffee’s roast date
— Your brewing method
- Be consistent with water quality and measuring weight, ratios, and time.
- Remember!
— Let your palate help you personalize the best recipe for you.
— Brew often and have fun!

More about Brewing here.

FOR FILTER

  • COFFEE-TO-WATER RATIO: 1:15
  • COFFEE GRIND SIZE: Medium fine
  • (like table salt; 21-28 clicks in Comandante MK4 and 14-18 clicks in Timemore C2)
  • COFFEE AGE: 7-14 days, ideally
  • COFFEE DOSE: 17 grams
  • WATER WEIGHT: 255 mL
  • WATER TEMPERATURE: 90°C-93°C
  • TARGET BREW TIME: 02:30 - 03:00

1. Heat water to 90°C-93°C

2. Arrange your brewing set-up.

— Place your dripper on the carafe & filter paper in the dripper.

— Rinse the filter paper with hot water & remove the rinsing water from the carafe.

3. Switch on your scale.

4. Measure out 17 g of coffee & grind to Medium Fine.

5. Place the carafe and dripper with the rinsed filter paper onto the scale, & tare.

6. Transfer the ground coffee to the dripper; then, tare.

7. Start the timer!

First pour to bloom, 55ml for 30 seconds.

Second pour, 100 ml at 00:30.

Third pour, the final 100ml at 01:15

8. Target to finish the brew within 02:30 to 03:00 minutes.

9. Serve & enjoy!