In the 1930s, Belgium's colonial government introduced Arabica coffee crops to Burundi's fertile highlands. Soon after, Burundi's smallholder farmers were state-mandated to cultivate the plants for export. By Burundi's 1962 independence, many farmers associated coffee with a colonial legacy, leading most of them to abandon it. This turbulent history has meant that Burundi's coffee is often overlooked in comparison to that of its East African neighbours. However, that narrative is shifting, as the high quality of coffee coming out of Burundi has firmly placed it on the specialty coffee map.

Founded in 2015 by engineers Dan Brose and Pontien Ntunzwenimana, Migoti Coffee Company connects Burundian smallholder farmers to global specialty markets through transparent supply chains with quality post-harvest processing. In 2016, the company built the Migoti Hill washing station in Pontien's home community of Mutambu, which revitalised its local coffee sector. Migoti continues to grow with its recent establishment of another washing station in the neighbouring community of Nyabiraba. By pairing their technical expertise with community networks, Migoti Coffee's vision remains the same: to cultivate coffee as a catalyst for growth and prosperity.

Kinama Hill represents a collective of coffee farmers who deliver their coffee cherries to Migoti's Kinama Washing Station in the Nyabiraba commune, not far from Migoti's original station. What began in 2022 as only a dry mill with a small number of raised beds has grown to include a wet mill, a warehouse, and offices.

Quaffee's notes

"A naturally processed coffee from Migoti from Kinama Hill has tasting notes of red berries, brown sugar and spice with vanilla on the finish."

• Taste profile: Good complexity medium-full bodied coffee, with notes of red berry, brown sugar and hints of spice with a vanilla finish
• Body: Medium
• Roast used: "What [Quaffee calls] a kick and straighten roast with a 40-second development time. This lighter roast promotes the fruit and sweet flavour notes"
• Roast degree: Light – using my-tonino.com
• Quaffee brews:
  • Espresso: 1:2.2 (27 sec)
  • AeroPress: 17.5g:200g (2m steep)
  • Plunger: 48g:800g
  • Pour-over: 18g:300g (or 20g for more spice)

Coffee details from Quaffee

"In the cup, Lot 11 sits in an interesting place. The fruit is ripe and present — blueberry, stone fruit, sweetness — but it doesn't tip into the heavier fermentation notes that some naturals carry. It behaves almost like a clean washed coffee in terms of structure, with natural processing adding sweetness and depth rather than funk. That quality is partly the cultivar, partly careful drying management."

• Country: Burundi
• Region: Mumirwa, Bujumbura Rural Province
• Farm: Kinama Hill
• Producer: Approximately 100 smallholder farmers
• Altitude: ~1,665 masl
• Cultivar: Red Bourbon
• Processing: Natural, sun-dried on raised beds for 21–28 days

Quaffee's transparency information

• Organisation: Migoti
• Source: Migoti via Zuka Green Coffee
• Cupping score: 84 (Quaffee)
• Lot size bought: 3 x 60kg bags
• Relationship: "We have had a working relationship with Dan Brose, the part-owner of Migoti, since 2019. This is our sixth season dealing with Dan. His son Andrew has taken over the day-to-day operations now."