Shoebox Coffee Roasters - Kiyonza Washed Red Bourbon | Rwanda

Rwanda — Emmanuel Rusatira Baho Coffee Fugi Kiyonza Hill Red Bourbon (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍎 Pomegranate • 🫐 Blackberry Syrup • 🍺 Rootbeer

DETAILS

• Producer: 60 Smallholder Farmers — Kiyonza Hill, Fugi Washing Station (Baho Coffee)

• Region: Nyaruguru, Rwanda

• Varietal: Red Bourbon

• Process: Washed

• Altitude: 1,900 MASL

• Source: Sundog Coffee Traders / Baho Coffee

INTRO

From 60 smallholder farmers organised around Kiyonza Hill, delivering cherry to Emmanuel Rusatira's Fugi Washing Station in Nyaruguru — a profound, syrupy, and deeply flavoured washed Red Bourbon from one of Rwanda's most community-focused specialty operations. In the cup: loud pomegranate and blackberry syrup sweetness, a lovely rootbeer acidity through the centre, and a lime zest finish.

THE PRODUCER

Fugi Washing Station is operated by Baho Coffee, sitting between the Nyungwe National Forest and the border of Burundi in Rwanda's Nyaruguru district. Led by Emmanuel Rusatira, Baho began exporting highly traceable microlots in 2019 through Sundog Coffee Traders — building an impressively organised network of farmers structured around local "hills", with each group separated by quality and microclimate in a system that functions similarly to Long Miles Coffee Project's hill-level approach.

Fugi station offers farmers a higher upfront price per kilo for cherry, plus a second bonus payment once the coffee has been processed and sold. Farmers within the Kiyonza Hill group are trained to plant and care for shade trees — mostly papaya and tomato plants — surrounding their coffee production. The station also provides specialty coffee training programmes, healthcare stipends, and a full-time on-site agronomy specialist. The continued investment Baho makes into its community ensures both the livelihoods of its farmers and the long-term future of Rwandan specialty coffee.

This lot was selected from 60 Kiyonza Hill farmers chosen specifically for the altitude and general climate of their farms — at 1,900 MASL, Emmanuel found these lots to have a profound depth of flavour and exceptional acidity and sweetness.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Fugi involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Ripe Red Bourbon cherries selectively harvested by Kiyonza Hill farmers 💧 Flotation & sorting — Floated and sorted after delivery to the station 🧪 9-hour in-cherry fermentation — Whole cherries fermented for 9 hours before depulping 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed through small water channels 💧 12-hour underwater soak — Depulped beans soaked underwater for a further 12 hours 🌑 72-hour shade drying — First 72 hours of drying carried out under total shade on raised beds ☀️ Sun drying — Dried under sun for a total of 27 days

The 72-hour initial shade drying is the defining step — by beginning the drying entirely under shade before transitioning to sun, Emmanuel creates an exceptionally controlled drying environment that develops the profound depth, syrupy sweetness, and clean structure that define this lot. Combined with the two-stage fermentation and soak, the result is one of Nyaruguru's most expressive and well-structured washed Red Bourbons.

THE CUP

A loud, syrupy, and deeply flavoured washed Red Bourbon from one of Rwanda's most thoughtfully managed and community-rooted washing stations — pomegranate and blackberry syrup sweetness up front, a lovely rootbeer acidity through the centre, and a lime zest finish. Emmanuel Rusatira and the Kiyonza Hill farmers at their most expressive.

Flavour Notes

🍎 Pomegranate 🫐 Blackberry Syrup 🍺 Rootbeer