Meet Cedar’s first Rwandan coffee for the year 2025, a washed lot from the Shyira Washing Station! As is the case in most of Rwanda’s coffee-growing regions, Nyabihu’s coffee is produced by numerous small, family-run farms rather than large plantations, and farmers usually organise into cooperatives. This enables them to pool their resources, share agronomic knowledge, and access key infrastructure, like local coffee mills such as Shyira.

Owned and operated by Muraho Trading Company, Shyira Washing Station is Nyabihu’s local washing station. It’s actually Muraho’s smallest station in both literal size and scale of production, a design and operation consideration that allows the station to focus intently on each and every micro-lot it produces, maximising quality.

Muraho is focused on more than just product quality, though. It was founded in 2015 by brothers Karthick and Gaudam Anbalagan, whose aim from the start has been to put Rwanda’s incredible specialty coffee, and in turn the East-African country itself and its people, on display for the world. Moreover, MTCo. is committed to supporting its farmers, improving their livelihoods and coffee yields in tandem by securing buyers for their harvests and offering farmers attractive payment terms. 

Due to Rwanda’s mountainous geography and equatorial climate, regions like Shyira provide the ideal altitudes, weather and soil conditions for growing delicious specialty coffee. Rwanda is especially famous for the kind of coffee that makes up this lot, Red Bourbon, which is often one of the first varieties budding coffee enthusiasts come to know by name.

Red Bourbon is especially well-suited to the high altitudes of Rwanda’s mountainous regions, and one can often expect it to offer plenty of jammy fruit notes and a bright acidity in the cup. It is also a washed coffee, meaning that the skin and fruit was removed entirely prior to the drying stage of processing. The upshot is that the fruit notes typically associated with Red Bourbon and Rwandan coffee may not be as bold or sweet as in a natural coffee, but will come through with greater clarity in the cup.

Cedar’s notes

“Our first Rwandan for the year 2025 is so refreshing; highlighting the terroir perfectly in the cup. This coffee was so great last harvest we had to bring it back and marvel at its beauty.“

“We have spent quite a bit of time honing this coffee in, tasting with a bigger team, sharing our notes, and cross-referencing. This wider pool of notes ensures that we can give a more accurate description of this coffee. The theme throughout this coffee was notes of stone fruit, a tussle between nectarines and peaches tied with this citrus acidity upfront.”

• Cup profile: White peach, orange candy, pecan pie

Coffee details from Cedar

• Farm/Producer: Numerous smallholder farmers who process their crop at Shyira Washing Station, owned by Muraho Trading Company
• Region: Nyabihu District
• Country: Rwanda
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 2000 - 2400 masl
• Variety: Red Bourbon