Humure

Humure washing station is named after the highest peak in the Gatsibo District where it is located. It was constructed in 2017 and is entirely managed by women. 

Emmanuel Rusatira, managing director of Baho Coffee, bought Humure washing station in 2018 and increased production capacity by 20% in the first 3 years by installing new washing channels and storage units.

It's hard to get a clear answer but as of our last conversation we have been told that Baho Coffee owns 10 washing stations across Rwanda - with at least one station in each of the 4 coffee producing provinces. In addition to providing a number of educational, financial and agricultural services to farmers, Baho Coffee also has several social programs that are geared towards helping farmers, especially marginalized groups like women, older farmers and youth.

Like much of the coffee coming out of Rwanda, this particular lot is a washed Red Bourbon. The coffee is selectively handpicked by farmers and their families and sold to the station. At Humure, staff sort cherry by hand and then float the cherry to check for density. The station accepts cherry that passes both visual hand sorting and floating. Sorting work consumes over 70% of seasonal labor.

Accepted cherry is pulped and dry fermented for 8-10 hours. Fermentation at Humure station is quicker than at some other Baho Coffee stations because the area where Humure processes coffee is typically warmer than the other coffee regions. The parchment is soaked for 8 hours in clean water to ensure complete removal of mucilage before being washed through grading channels. After grading, parchment is spread on raised drying beds, dried for 5 days in direct sunlight to reduce any risk of mold or over-fermentation  and then under shade for roughly 27-30 days to complete the drying process, where it is sorted repeatedly, again.

The resulting cup is fragrant like the skin of an orange and shows incredibly clean, lingering sweetness. Like most Bourbon varieties the sugars are concentrated and tasted caramelized. We get brown sugar, raisin and balancing citric acidity.

Producer  → Local smallholder farmers
Washing Station  →  Humure
Location  →  Gatsibo, Rwanda
Altitude  → 1,550-1,835 masl
Varieties  → Red Bourbon 
Process  → Washed