Rwanda Huye Mountain Top Lot – Bourbon Natural Processed

A very fun and tasty natural processed coffee from Rwanda, a different spin on tastes, more similar to an Ethiopian or Yemen Mokka coffee. 

Huye Mountain Coffee is a private washing station established in 2011 to provide farmers in the region with access to international markets and buyers of specialty coffees.

Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huye community, where a truck visits daily to collect the farmers’ coffee during harvest season. This unique coffee comes from the Huye Mountain in the Huye District, in Southern Rwanda and grown above 1,900 meters. The natural process employed at Huye Mountain involves meticulous cherry selection and hand sorting prior to drying. Drying is done on raised African beds for between 14 and 28 days, depending on the weather, and the coffee is turned regularly. 

Tasting Notes: We thought best served in the medium roast range, but tasty from light to dark. A very sweet cup at any roast point. Lighter roasts have some stronger citric/floral acidity, a little hint of a grape-skin like fruitiness and a spiced (herbal) chocolate undertone. Medium roasts build a much creamier cup profile, just a hint of crisp floral upfront that fades into a  strawberry like fruitiness, balanced with a spicier chocolate dark tone. Dark roasts themselves are a bit flatter but still very sweet edged, hardly fruity but makes up for it with the fuller bodied more robust chocolate and spice notes.

Roasting Notes: A bit higher chaff and slightly uneven roasting being natural processed but we would still consider it an easy to roast coffee. A refined natural processed, not old world crazy two toned like some.  Shoot for a classic light to medium roast if you like more fruit and floral tones, any signs of second crack, cool it out right away. For more robust and creamy chocolate tone, take it darker, just touching second crack. If the cup is too sharp tasting, give it a couple day setup, gets nice and smooth.