We introduce you the coffee of the month August-Rwanda Ishema Women. A small East African country located in the heart of the continent with a rich history and hard-time moments. It produces one of the world's most impressive coffees. Grown entirely by women who defend their equal rights in the production processes.

 

The coffee was brought to the country by German colonists in 1904. However, the commercial production increased only in the 1930s when the Belgian colonial government was in power. It focuses on planting as much coffee as possible, creating a "high performance and low quality trap" for many producers in the country at the time. For many years, Rwanda has had the reputation of a low-quality coffee producing country, and during the economic crisis of the 1980s and subsequent political events after the genocide of 1994, the production is largely unstable.

The coffee grows at 1,800-2,200 meters above sea level, which most of it comes from either south or west, both divided into five main production areas. To the northwest is the volcanic zone of Virunga, West-Kivu. Moving towards the center of the country, we reach the Kizi Rift area. Further south is Akagera, known for its comparatively low height (1300 m²). Finally, but not least, to the east is the Muhazi region. Our coffee comes from  the Northern province, Gakenke District.
Rwanda is known as "the land of thousands of hills" and this is also reflected in coffee. There is a wide range of flavors related to the regions, but even in one major area can be found great differences from the slope to the hill.
Fully-washed coffees, also called double-washed, are usually handled slightly different from other known coffees because they are soaked in water twice, by a method customary in Africa, but not in Latin America.

The harvesting season in Rwanda can last from March to August. It is always possible to change a bit depending on the region, the weather and the altitude in which the coffee is grown. Farms are usually very small, run by families that take care for plants and pick the coffee cherries themselves.


Our coffee comes from a small farm belonging to women. The aim of the cooperative is to offer them equal employment opportunities in Rwanda. The story of the Ishema project began in 2004 after Joy Tushabe’s discovery, showing that women are not actively involved in coffee production and throughout the value chain. Before the markets and the production of coffee were used at the discretion of men. Ishema is located at 1372 meters above sea level and in between three large, fertile hills over 1600 meters, ideal for coffee growing. Joy has created and works in the only cooperative in Rwanda, which is within 50 km and employs 60 women. Through continuous training for its employees, she believes that Ishema can greatly improve the quality of the coffee while continuing to have a direct impact on the lives of those working there.

"Women can come here and make money ... and provide themselves and their families," says Joy.

Through her entrepreneurial spirit, vision and diligent efforts, women across the community already have more money for food and better housing for their families as well as a working environment.

The taste of our coffee is sweet with notes of berries and apricots, with a dense body and bright and complex acidity. The aftertaste is extremely pure with notes of candied fruit and caramel.



Our Specialty Rwanda Ishema Women coffee could be purchased: roasted (here) and green (here).

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