Super super excited to bring on our first coffee from Rwanda to the Enjoy fold for this months drop! Rwandan specialty coffee has a real special place in my heart. The cup profiles that can be experienced from the Rwandan bourbon varieties, matched with high elevations, and impeccable processing techniques lead to some of the juiciest coffees out there. Gitabi Hill was sourced by Sundog Trading and Baho Coffee from the Gakenke District in the Northern Province of Rwanda. The Gitabi Hill group has a total of 116 contributing small holder farmers and this specific lot is comprised of 11 farmers cherries. Ben Bowdoin from Sundog has been working closely with Emmanuel Rusatira of Baho Coffee since 2019 with the goal of getting more money to the farmers, and increasing transparency of Rwandan specialty coffee beyond the washing station level. Because of this work, we have the contributing farmers names that produced this incredible coffee: Deogratias Mbonaruza, Pierre Ndamage, Depite Ndimubanzi, Claudien Nkomeje, Abel Nshaka, Sylvere Mvunabandi, Zabulon Bahizi, Damien Nkurikiyimana, Jean Paul Ntawiyanga, Isaac Rwangano, and Reverien Hagenimana.

These farmers deliver their cherry through the mountainous landscape to the Muzo Washing Station which is tucked in the hills about 2 hours northwest of the capital city of Kigali. This trip is particularly strenuous, and because of this, Baho has also established a free cherry collection service for the Muzo station. This remote area of the country has fewer washing stations in comparison to the popular districts that surround Lake Kivu. That said, the Gakenke District is becoming known as more strictly specialty-focused producing district. Muzo is the smallest station in the Baho family produces some of Emmanuel’s most prized coffees. All delivering famers receive training, inputs and substantial contributions towards health insurance premiums via Baho Coffee. Muzo and each Baho-owned station also has their own agronomist on site that organizes training sessions focused on plant care, environmental protection, and the importance of traceability. Historically, this sort of support was a dream scenario. It’s so amazing to see the work that Baho and Sundog are doing and the absolutely stunning coffees that are a result of it!
 
OK! The coffee! Ben was kind enough to kick me a number of samples to dig into for this first Enjoy x Sundog release (yes, there will certainly be more) and I’ll tell you… Gitabi Hill is one of the best coffees I’ve cupped out and tasted this year. I wanted a vibrant, bright, clean and crisp washed coffee to follow up the fruit-bomb that was April’s Burundi Gashoho Bavyeyi and Gitabi Hill is the perfect fit. The cup profile is incredibly juicy and silky (a la Juicy Juice boxes - yes, I have a 5 year old and steel a juice box now and then). A sparkling red grape-like tartaric acidity jumps out of the cup in all its sweetness that is followed up by a series of clean and crisp mixed fruit notes that, yes, once again, remind me of juicy juice fruit punch. These fun and sweet flavors balance out this lingering floral note of elderflower that becomes more and more present as the cup cools. I can riff on this coffee endlessly so I’ll just stop here. Grab a jar or two of this incredible coffee that is supporting incredible work by Sundog Trading and Baho Coffee. ✌️