Humure - Natural Anaerobic - Rwanda

Last year's lot received this score from Coffee Review! This year is tasting just as yummy! 

Name: Humure Natural Anaerobic
Region: Remera Sector, Gatsibo District, Eastern Province, Rwanda
Tasting Notes: watermelon,  raspberry, nectarine, prickly pear, in a juicy cup.
Producers: 1,680 producers delivering to Humure Washing Station
Processing Station: Humure Station
Station Manager: Stratton Nzaramba
Process: Low Oxygen Natural - 72 hour low oxygen whole cherry fermentation
Variety: Red Bourbon
Altitude: 1600-1900 masl

Brewing Parameters:

Filter (Pourover & Batch Brew): 1:16

Espresso: 1:2-1:2.1 (17.5g -18g in, 35-37.8 out, 26-32 sec) 

Humure, named after the highest hill in the area, is located in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. It’s currently the largest station in the Baho family - collecting cherry from over 1600 smallholder farmers, producing nearly over 2000 60kg bags of green coffee annually, and employing 270 people during the peak of the season.

The station was newly constructed in 2017 by a different owner, but Emmanuel stepped in to purchase Humure during the 2018 season.  He immediately made large investments in infrastructure - new fermentation tanks, new washing channels, and larger storage units - thus, increasing the production capacity by 20x in the first three years of operation. Though the region is currently dominated by banana and maize production, Baho has established an impressive seedling distribution program that’s mobilizing farmers to start planting more coffee.

In 2018 Emmanuel began experimenting with whole cherry fermentation techniques that could differentiate him within the specialty market – you can think of these techniques as a low and slow style of cooking, but applied to coffee processing. 

Top-quality coffee cherries are packed tightly in plastic tanks where they ferment, in this case for 72 hours. Baho’s experimental fermentation methods would fall under the umbrella of what is often called “anaerobic natural processing,” but because all processing methods are anaerobic, we refer to this process as a low-oxygen whole cherry fermentation. This method of fermentation plus longer than usual drying methods contribute to a higher intensity and complexity of fruit flavors and sweetness in the resulting coffees.

We taste a bouquet of strawberry, raspberry, watermelon, nectarine, prickly pear, and grape in a juicy cup.


Rwanda:
Coffee was brought to Rwanda in 1904 and was commercialized in the 1930s under Belgian colonial rule. From the 30s to the late 1990s, most of the coffee produced in the area was produced in a low-quality/high-volume model, and for a significant amount of time, Rwanda’s coffee sector has been controlled by one or two major buyers.

Over time and with the standardization of farmgate prices, coffee quality has improved and producers have begun to make more money. But Rwandese farmers often make little off of their labor overall, as most profits benefit major multinational companies.

Emmanuel is one of a very small group of Rwandese people who are exporting their own coffee; this means that profits are remaining within the country and are being reinvested back into people and communities. There is a deep level of commitment and respect between Emmanuel, his employees, and the farmers who deliver to Baho stations. Unlike many multinational companies, Emmanuel is directly invested in the future of his own country.

Baho provides substantial resources to the farmers they work with, including production and harvest skills training, insurance contributions, physical resources like fertilizers and seedlings, and practical resources like transportation.

Emmanuel explains that Baho’s vision of community is guided by having a synergetic relationship with the community of farmers that they work with. “⁣Our overall vision is implied by the meaning of our name, Baho, which in our local language means live/life. It is like a tree that grows up and has branches, flowers, and fruits and still keeps its roots in the ground.”

Catch us and the history of Rwandan coffee on Episode 7 "Coffee" in the docuseries, Omnivore on Apple TV+! 

*IF you would like this coffee ground, please specify brew method in comments.

  Bags are 12oz/340g, 2 lbs, 5 lbs