Coffee for this lot was grown by small-holder farmers partnering with Kilimbi washing station in the Nyamasheke district, nearby Lake Kivu. Kilimbi, where the coffee is processed, is owned and managed by Muraho Trading Company. Run by two brothers with strong roots in the community. Muraho is a young innovative coffee company with a mission to showcase exceptional quality of Rwandan coffee whilst having a positive impact in their patterning farmer families.Kilimbi is one of six washing stations owned and run by Muraho. Established in 2016, Kilimbi was the first station that Muraho built and it is the birthplace of the company. It is now managed by Joseph Ntarindwa and it has an estimated annual production of approximately 33,300kg of milled green coffee, which is produced each harvest into volumes of honey, washed, and naturally processed coffees.
Kilimbi along with Gisheke are the only stations that get some coffee cherries delivered by boat from farmers through Lake Kivu. Since its inception is 2016, Kilimbi has established its firm place within the Rwandan specialty coffee industry. Alongside its exquisite traditional washed lots, Kilimbi and Rugali CWS, were some of the first stations in Rwanda’s history to legally produce and export natural and honey processed coffee. It should be noted that unlike its neighbor Burundi, the honey and natural processes are still relatively unexplored in Rwanda. This is due in the first place to the restrictions on its production imposed by the central government until recently; and second, due to the interruption in the development of the Rwandan coffee industry that was generated after the genocide and that could not be restarted until 2001.
The process begins with the arrival of the cherries at the washing station, which are immediately washed and hermetically sealed in plastic bags for 24 hours, before being pulped in the afternoon of the following day. The pulped coffees are kept covered in plastic under roof overnight, before being transferred to drying tables the next day.
The drying process takes about 3 weeks, where the coffee is in constant rotation to ensure uniform drying. The analysis of the honey development rate, showed that this lot is between what is typically defined as red honey and black honey.
