Rwanda — Muraho Trading Company Cyesha Washing Station Red Bourbon (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Clementine • 🌹 Rosehip • 🍬 Brown Sugar

DETAILS

• Producer: Smallholder Farmers — Cyesha Washing Station, Muraho Trading Company
• Region: Nyamasheke District, Lake Kivu, Rwanda
• Varietal: Red Bourbon
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,550–1,800 MASL
• Size: 250g 

INTRO

From the Cyesha Washing Station on the shores of Lake Kivu — the washed counterpart to Bluebird's Cyesha Honey, and another of their favourite Rwandan lots. Where the honey delivers dried apricot warmth and orange sweetness, the washed expression is brighter, cleaner, and more delicately structured. In the cup: clementine, rosehip, and brown sugar.

THE PRODUCER

The journey to Cyesha begins with a four-hour drive from Kigali to the Nyamasheke District — through lush forests, Rwanda's trademark rolling hills, and villages before arriving at the iconic Lake Kivu, Rwanda's largest lake and the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is on the shores of this lake that the Cyesha Washing Station sits, part of the Muraho Trading Company's portfolio of stations in the district.

Muraho Trading Company was born in Kilimbi — a nearby area in the same district — and has built a reputation for producing some of the finest coffees in Rwanda, with numerous stations placing in the Rwandan Cup of Excellence over the years. Cyesha is one of Muraho's most celebrated stations, working with smallholder Red Bourbon producers in the surrounding hills at 1,550–1,800 MASL. Red Bourbon, the variety the Rwandan government mandates for national coffee production, thrives in the volcanic soils and cool highland conditions of Nyamasheke — producing the bright acidity, refined fruit character, and clean sweetness that the washed process here reveals with full clarity.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Cyesha involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Ripe Red Bourbon cherries selectively harvested by surrounding smallholder producers 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed before fermentation 🧪 Fermentation — Beans fermented to break down remaining mucilage 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Dried on raised beds to optimal moisture content

The meticulous washing and fermentation management is the defining step — by stripping back all fruit influence, the process allows the intrinsic character of the Red Bourbon and the distinct terroir of Lake Kivu's shores to express themselves with the brightness, clean acidity, and refined sweetness that define this lot.

THE CUP

A bright, clean, and beautifully structured washed Red Bourbon from one of Rwanda's most celebrated specialty washing stations — clementine freshness, a delicate rosehip florality, and a warm brown sugar sweetness in a refined cup that offers an elegant counterpoint to the Cyesha Honey's richer, fuller profile.

Flavour Notes

🍊 Clementine 🌹 Rosehip 🍬 Brown Sugar