That's right! Back to back Rwanda's in the Enjoy world!  Trust. This was an intentional move.  Gatare is the perfect follow up to last month's Gitabi Hill. And let me tell ya, it's a super cool opportunity to taste the same variety of coffee, grown in the same country, but processed in a completely different way. Having these back to back will allow you to really see how massive of an impact processing technique has on the resulting cup profile. This separation of Gatare is one of the loudest cup profiles we've released to date with an intense lime sherbet-like acidity that is only amplified more by a candied strawberry sweetness that reminds me of pink Starburst's.  These high hitting notes are grounded by a raw brown sugar foundational flavor that seems to really strike its ultimate balance as the cup cools a few minuets after brewing.  

Gatare is a washing station owned and operated by Yego Coffee in the Nyamasheke District of the Western Province in Rwanda.  My introduction to the Gatare Station and Yego Coffee as a whole goes back to 2020 where I had the privilege of meeting Francois Tuyishime.  Francois had sent me some samples of coffee from Gatare and Busanze washing station and I distinctly remember the cupping and being absolutely floored with the cup profiles.  I purchased some of each lot for company I was working for and Francois delivered the beans himself to our roastery.  This is where our friendship began.  Francois was a warm and friendly dude who was incredibly proud and excited about these coffees.  Through our conversation, Francois opened up and filled me in on his incredible life (and coffee) journey.  

The Gatare station is one of a number of stations that Francois father and family built after returning to western Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. His family has been producing coffee for over 40 years and within the Gatare station alone, only 5 of the 25 full time staff have worked there for less than a decade! With such an experienced staff, Yego Coffee has used the Gatare station as it’s ‘go-to’ station for alternative processes and experimentation as we see here with an anaerobic natural process. This process combined with a detailed eye during harvesting has yielded a super special coffee. I don’t think I’ve really tasted anything like it before…

Here’s the geeky info on the specifics of Gatare’s anaerobic process as told by Francois:

• The best and ripe cherries are put in a tank and closed tight for five days (anaerobic fermentation).

• Open the bottom of the tank every morning and evening to take out the juice inside the tank.

• Rotate the tank to ensure cherries inside the tank are well mixed (homogenic)

• Open the tank after 5 days

• Keep coffee inside for 2 days 

• Spread the coffee on raised African coffee drying tables

• Keep coffee untouched for 2 days

• After two days, turn the coffee 3 times a day to get the air through.

• Always cover the coffee during rain and evening

• Keep doing the same till coffee reaches 11-11.5% moisture content.

• Take the coffee at the dry mill and color sorter.

• The last and most important stage is hand sorting of the green bean and pack for export.

…and boom. Grab a jar or two of this wild ride of a coffee and support the incredible work of Francois and his families stations.