Uganda — Kyabwire Village 11 Farmers SL28 (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍓 Wild Strawberries • 🍈 Tropical Fruit

DETAILS

• Producer: 11 Farmers from Kyabwire Village (Empaako Collective)
• Region: Kazingo, Rwenzori Mountains, Western Uganda
• Varietal: SL28
• Process: Natural, Double Fermentation
• Elevation: 1,700–1,900 masl
• Roast Profile: Filter

INTRO Swerl's first-ever Ugandan lot, from the Empaako Collective — a beautiful expression of SL28, juicy and fruit-forward, tasting like wild strawberries with hints of tropical fruit. In the cup: wild strawberries and tropical fruit.

THE PRODUCER This lot brings together 11 smallholder farmers from the Kyabwire village, part of the Empaako Collective in Western Uganda. Individual coffee gardens average under 0.75 acres, some under 0.25 acres — too small for traditional export on their own — but by joining together under the Kyabwire name, the group can ship as one. The relationship began after meeting Kabuuka Elimethidas, co-founder of Empaako Collective, at World of Coffee Brussels.

Thanks to the efforts of Kajumba Stella, one of Kyabwire's producers, the group gained better access to market information — including learning to use a smartphone to log harvest data for the 11 growers, and travelling to the city centre for enough data to run the Emata financing app. This marked the group's first-ever export season to Europe. Farmers in the surrounding villages had previously been victims of fraudulent intermediaries — undisclosed, shifting pricing and rigged scales that shorted deliveries by up to 7kg. In response, Empaako now works only with agents from within the same community, vetted as trustworthy by the whole group.

THE PROCESS Cherries are floated and sorted three times before processing, then fermented in sealed barrels for 48-72 hours until reaching a pH of 3.5. They're dried on raised beds for 4-7 days to around 20% moisture, then stored in bags for a second, 120-hour dark fermentation to build higher sugar levels, before drying again for 15-20 days until reaching 10% moisture.

The double fermentation — sealed-barrel first, then a second 120-hour dark fermentation after partial drying — is the defining step. It's what builds the concentrated wild strawberry sweetness and tropical fruit character that define this cup.

THE CUP Juicy and fruit-forward — wild strawberries lead, with hints of tropical fruit throughout. A beautiful, community-built expression of SL28 from one of Uganda's most carefully organised smallholder groups.

Flavour Notes 🍓 Wild Strawberries 🍈 Tropical Fruit