Storibord Coffee Stories: Rwanda Lake Kivu FTO

Coffees from Rwanda have been my personal favorite. Of all the coffee I have tasted and makes me happy, Rwandan coffee make me the happiness. I love their exciting and juicy brightness, and their buttery, sometime Danish cookie-like finish. I cupped this coffee as a sample before ordering more and was excited to be able to feature this on storibord.com. Plus it is Fair Trade and Organic.

Because of its beautiful mountainous terrain, the republic of Rwanda has been known as the Switzerland of Africa; "land of a thousand hills". The country's capital, which is in the center of the country, is Kigali and though Rwanda is about the size of Massachusetts, it has a highly dense population.

Rwanda has been through traitorous times during the civil war in 1994 between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups with caused mass genocide, which left the country in shambles. Since then reconciliation and reconstruction of Rwanda has been improving.

Coffees in Rwanda are known for their sweetness and heavy-bodied mouth feel. Notes of dried red fruits, like raisins and plumbs, and citric acidity is common among Rwandan coffee. This featured Storibord Coffee Roasters Rwandan coffee carries notes of chocolate, cinnamon, plumb with a hint of cola. It from comes from the Kabirizi washing station near Lake Kivu; 1800 meters above sea level. The coffee variety is a derivative of the Bourbon coffee varietal - Bourbon Mayaguez.

It is Fair Trade and Organic certified. The Fair Trade organization, COOPAC, works hard with the surrounding communities and farmers to produce high quality coffee in an environment that is socially stable. Along with the construction of a school, health care clinics, roads, and bridges, COOPAC has developed a program that distributes cows and goats to productive farms; along with providing farmers with an agricultural advisor, educating growers about modern production methods. Even the waste by-products created during the coffee washing process are used as fertilizer, instead of being discarded in the neighboring lake.