Rwanda — Gitega Hills Washing Station — Red Bourbon (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍍 Pineapple • 🍓 Strawberry • 🥭 Mango • 🍬 Caramel Finish

DETAILS

• Producer: Trapro Coffee Washing Stations (Bernard Uwitije)

• Washing Station: Gitega Hills

• Region: Cyanika Sector, Nyamagabe District, Southern Province, Rwanda

• Varietal: Bourbon

• Process: Natural

• Altitude: 1,700–1,900 MASL

• Size: 200g

INTRO

Sweet, tropical, and joyfully expressive — the Gitega Hills Natural Bourbon shows a very different face of Rwanda to its washed sibling. Where the washed lot delivers clarity and precision, the Natural is all warmth, roundness, and fruit. Pineapple, ripe strawberry, and mango lead the way, with a smooth, lingering caramel finish that ties everything together.

Despite the depth of fruit, this never tips into the overtly funky territory that can sometimes define naturals. It remains approachable and clean — a quality that speaks to the care taken at the Gitega Hills station throughout drying.

THE PRODUCER

Bernard Uwitije grew up in a coffee-producing family in southern Rwanda and spent years trading commodity-grade cherry before recognising the potential of fully washed specialty coffee. In 2015 he established his first wet mill — Gitega Hills — equipping it with a 1,500kg Penagos depulper, fermentation tanks, and a network of raised drying beds. The following year he expanded the operation to around six hectares of land near the small town of Miko, adjacent to a disused quartz quarry in the Cyanika Sector.

The station is now part of Trapro Coffee Washing Stations and serves around 1,040 smallholder farmers within seven kilometres, whose plots sit at 1,700–1,900 metres above sea level in the Southern Province's volcanic soils. The station employs 150 people from the local community, 90% of whom are women. Gitega also provides organic EM2 compost to its supplying farmers — produced from recycled cherry pulp and animal manure — helping improve soil health across the network.

All 1,040 farmers have either completed or are actively enrolled in the Agricultural Training Programme (ATP). That sustained investment in knowledge and soil health is reflected in the consistent quality of cherry that arrives at the station each season, and ultimately in the cup.

THE PROCESS

The Natural process at Gitega Hills is handled with the same rigour the station applies to its washed lots:

• 🍒 Selective Harvesting — Only fully ripe red cherry is accepted; this is especially critical for naturals, where overripe fruit can create off-flavours during drying.

• ✅ Float Sorting — Freshly delivered cherry is floated to remove defects, low-density fruit, and anything that could compromise the batch.

• ☀️ Raised Bed Drying — Whole cherries are laid out on elevated African beds in thin layers, dried slowly over multiple weeks with regular turning to ensure even airflow and prevent hotspots.

• 📅 Extended Drying Period — The cool microclimate of the Southern Province's high altitudes enables slow, controlled drying, which builds the rich fruit sweetness and smooth mouthfeel characteristic of this lot.

• 🔧 Dry Milling — Once target moisture is reached, the dried cherry is hulled and prepared for export.

The result is a natural that is sweet and round rather than wild — full of tropical fruit richness, with the elegance of high-altitude Rwandan Red Bourbon preserved throughout.

THE CUP

Round, tropical, and deeply satisfying. The Gitega Hills Natural Bourbon delivers waves of pineapple and mango sweetness alongside ripe strawberry and a silky, caramel-tinged finish. It has enough brightness to sing as a filter coffee and enough body and fruit density to work beautifully as espresso — particularly in milk.

Flavour Notes

• 🍍 Pineapple

• 🍓 Strawberry

• 🥭 Mango

• 🍬 Caramel Finish