Tasting Notes:
Lime Zest
Black Tea
Green Grape
Region
Nyaruguru
Washing Station
Fugi, Ikizere group
Processing:
Washed
Variety:
Red Bourbon
Altitude:
1550-1850m
Description:

A rainy afternoon in Portland was the perfect time to be tasting bright, floral samples. It was the day before the 2023 Global Coffee Expo and Montreal-based exporter Semilla Coffee was showcasing fresh arrivals from Baho, their export partner in Rwanda. Tasting through the samples, two things became evident. First – almost every coffee that stood out to me was from Fugi Washing Station, so I’d found a clear favourite. Second – Baho was providing traceability unlike anything I’d ever seen. Rwanda historically produced massive, nameless regional blends, but Baho was turning out lots from small communities, even some single farms. That cupping led to our first two purchases from Fugi, and began our journey into the world of Baho, Emmanuel Rusatira, and the new wave of hyper-focused Rwandan specialty coffee.

Emmanuel Rusatira founded Baho Coffee after 20 years of managing washing stations for a large export company. Baho has provided an avenue for Emmanuel to implement his sourcing philosophies and reimagine the Rwandese coffee sector. The Ikizere women’s group is a perfect encapsulation of this ethos. Typically, traceability is confined to geography – a specific town or farm. Emmanuel is expanding the concept of traceability to include demographics by pooling coffees from specific groups of people. The Ikizere group comprises coffee from 61 single mothers, many of whom were widowed during the devastating 1994 Rwandan genocide. On top of managing their farms, these women are tasked with navigating discrimination within a deeply patriarchal society. To further deepen cohesion and community amongst the Ikizere group, Emmanuel asked the women to depulp their cherries by hand all together at the Fugi station. While this is a very labour and time-intensive process, having the group gather and work together provided a space to connect over their shared experiences. All too often, processing and traceability decisions are made for the benefit of roasters and consumers, whether it’s a roaster asking for an anaerobic process or some other processing experiment. The Ikizere group flips that dynamic. Manual depulping is chosen to form solidarity and cohesion within their community, as opposed to responding to the latest flavour trends in the Europe or North America.

Later in that trip to Portland, I was fortunate to meet Emmanuel on the trade show floor and his passion and enthusiasm are undeniable and infectious – instantly connecting with everyone around him and proudly sporting the Rwandese flag on his Baho-branded hat and shirt. To convey a sliver of that energy, here’s what Emmanuel had to say about Ikizere group (provided thanks to our pals at Semilla):  

“We decided to bring these women together, through coffee, and revive their hope by showing them that we consider them as part of the community and they are equally needed, important, and valued like any other person, regardless of their struggle, social, and economic situation. It is a group that started in 2020, now well organized and have elected leadership to coordinate activities. We decided to make this traditional method of coffee pulping to create emotional, closer relation with this lot and owners. It takes time to do such method, and this helped these women to talk, discuss much about their lives, coffee, issues, and exchange ideas to overcome those issues. The time spent together pulping coffee was crucial and practically important in building their social relationship. Recognition was one step, but we also want to advocate for them and sell their coffee to buyers who care about people, humanity, and equality. With income from this coffee, Baho promised these women to receive the highest price of cherries in the country.”