It seems Cedar was so enthused by Shyira’s washed coffee that they decided to bring in some of the station’s natural offering too! Like Cedar’s other current Rwandan offering, this lot was grown and processed in the western Nyabihu District. As is the case in most of Rwanda’s coffee-growing regions, Nyabihu’s coffee is produced by 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. This particular lot of Red Bourbon was naturally processed, meaning it was allowed to dry with the fruit and skin of the coffee cherry still intact, which allows their flavours to seep into the coffee seed, which is known more commonly as the bean. In contrast, washed coffees are fully pulped before being dried. While natural coffees might like the balance and clarity of a washed coffee, they tend to be fuller bodied and can boast sweet, fruity notes. Red Bourbon shines particularly well as a natural coffee, but you can always pick up both of Cedar’s current Rwandan coffees if you’d like to do a comparative tasting.

Cedar’s notes

“We decided to bring in not just the washed lot from Shyira but their natural lot this time and it's a stellar selection.“

“This coffee was quite interesting on the first sip where we all experienced this effervescent acidity reminiscent of pink sherbert, with a clean grape sweetness. The espresso just intensified a lot of citrus notes. We picked up a little orange marmalade but still this pink sherbert was prevalent. The milk option was quite light, with subtle notes of cream cake; think of fresh cream cake.”

• Cup profile: Pink sherbert, grapes, cream cake

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: Natural
• Altitude: 1500 - 2000 masl
• Variety: Red Bourbon