Coffee Story
Located in the Southern Province of Rwanda, almost directly on the border of Burundi, the Fugi washing station is part of Baho Coffee, a network of washing stations owned and operated by the charismatic Emmanuel Rusatira. We met Emmanuel for the first time at a Specialty Coffee Association Expo in Portland, and he was truly the life of the party! After 15 years of working as a producer, Emmanuel and his family decided to build their washing stations in East Africa with a commitment to quality and sustainability.
The Fugi washing station produces only specialty-grade coffee and, alongside Bugoyi, is the base from which Emmanuel launched Baho Coffee’s operations. Fugi employs 70 people as part of standard Baho practice, and the pension for all workers here is paid on top of their wages. This specific lot, a Red Bourbon from the Ikizere Women Coffee Group, serves as a symbol of resilience and empowerment. Established in 2019, Ikizere was created with the mission to support widowed farmers in Nyaruguru. These women face significant challenges in sustaining their livelihoods after the loss of their spouses, but they have found collective strength through Ikizere. The group not only empowers them economically but also provides a platform to promote their coffee, ensuring that their hard work is recognized and rewarded in the marketplace. This initiative has transformed their lives, turning personal loss into a powerful force for community upliftment and economic growth.
The journey begins on their farms, where women nurture their coffee plants year-round through pruning, weeding, and using organic fertilizers. Their knowledge of sustainable farming ensures high-quality cherry production. During harvest, they handpick only the ripe, red cherries, which are essential to the coffee's flavour. Transporting the cherries to Fugi Coffee Washing Station on the same day as harvest is vital to preserving quality, despite the challenging terrain.
At the Fugi washing station, the Ikizere Women Coffee Group meticulously sort their coffees under complete shade to select only the ripest cherries and remove defects. Cherries undergo multiple rounds of floating—denser cherries sink and are designated for higher-grade lots, while floaters are mixed with rejected cherries for lower-grade lots. Typically, cherries arrive 2 to 3 hours post-picking.
Once enough cherries are gathered, they are depulped, and the double fermentation process begins: a dry fermentation (8 to 12 hours) followed by a wet fermentation for the same duration. Afterward, the coffee is washed through grading channels to remove mucilage, then soaked for another 8 to 12 hours to ensure even moisture distribution.
The coffee is then placed on shaded drying beds for 48 to 72 hours, allowing for gentle drying and intensive sorting. For the first five days, it receives limited sunlight and is manually turned every 30 minutes to prevent cracks. After this, it moves to full sun, where it's turned four times daily. The drying phase ends when the moisture content reaches 11.0%, and the parchment is stored until milling. Typically, the total drying time lasts 30 to 40 days.
