Rwanda Muhororo

• TASTING NOTES: tamarind | blood orange | black tea
• ROAST LEVEL: light
• PRODUCER: Celestin & Marie Rumenerangabo (+236 other producers)
• REGION: Nyamasheke
• WASHING STATION: Muhororo
• PROCESS: washed
• ELEVATION: 1700 - 2100 MASL
• VARIETY: Red Bourbon
• HARVEST: 2023-2024

 ABOUT THIS COFFEE: 

"The history of the Muhororo washing station begins in 1973, when 14-year-old Celestin Rumenerango embarked on a three-day walk from Nyamasheke to the capital, Kigali. Celestin had been raised by his mother, who was forced to relocate after her husband was killed during the 1959 Rwandan Revolution, a period of violence between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. After three years of working as a housekeeper for a family, Celestin returned home with his savings. He used this money to purchase land and 380 coffee trees. Soon after, he started a coffee collection point and began trading in the local market. When he married his wife, Marie, a school teacher, the coffee business became a family business. With his wife and mother involved, they formed partnerships with more coffee farmers and established new farms. Thanks to Marie’s teaching background, they also began supporting the education of children from coffee farming families working with them. In 1994, the Tutsi genocide forced Celestin and his family to flee. They returned in 1998 to rebuild their business from scratch. Despite facing financial and health challenges, they received support from the community. In 2006, the family built their first washing station, which, unfortunately, had to be sold six years later due to competition from larger, better-financed companies. Despite this setback, the family regrouped, and in 2014, Celestin’s sons established two new washing stations, Gasharu and Muhororo, both of which began exporting coffee in 2019." - Publik Coffee, a Small batch roster in SLC