East Africa

Travelling around Rwanda you get a sense of how close this country has become. A proud nation that is defined by a sense of community spirit and improvement. The coutry side is punctuated by people collecting water from the roasdside wells as and bicycle riders /bicycle taxis ( the bike is the preferred mode of transport).A quietly confident underlying sense of purpose as well as can do attitude. Cupping 60 of the countries top lots really is a pleasure. The coffee in Rwanda is traditionally sourced in small lots from each washing station. One lot will probably have hundreds of farmers contributing small amounts of cherry. 

I travel between two provinces, one in the east and one north. Both producing great coffee. It quickly becomes apparent by the thousands of people at the Cup of Excellence awards that coffee is Rwanda. So after a weeks work the international jury decide on the top ten, there is very little between the lots and tenths of a point seperate the positions. 

Rwandan coffee is typically bourbon varietal exhibiting great apricot sweetness with intense acidity and fine balance. The coffees do vary between regions and washing stations and generalizing perhaps is not a great selling point. Espresso coffee produced from Rwandan beans can really exhibit an intensely complex cup and those single origin espresso doubters should research Rwandan as a single to really be sure their arguement is sound!

Seven seeds is proud to have used Rwandan coffee since it's beginning, we will be using this fantastic coffee for a long time to come.