“Two brothers, one dream and the land of a thousand hills!” is the opening line on the Muraho website and encapsulates the landscape of Muraho and our epic partnership with them. Karthik was with us at the beginning of this year when we launched the new Seam Roastery and our partnership with Muraho stems all the way back to the early days of Seam. Year after year they produce beautiful coffee at their now 7 washing stations in western Rwanda and we have been fortunate enough to have had coffee from all these stations over the years, from beautiful clean washed coffees to exciting naturals!
We're focusing on Gisheke CWS, The Hidden Gem, of the Muraho family of washing stations accessible only by boat on Lake Kivu. This washing station is ideally located between two steep hills that face Lake Kivu, the beautiful Idjwi Island and the DRC. This location with the wind flow through the hills is ideal for processing and drying the top quality natural coffees that Gisheke is well known for.
Managed by Emmanuel Tuyizere, Gisheke produces around 350 metric tons of coffee every year and around 40% of that coffee is from the Mushungwe Island and its two little sister islands in Lake Kivu.
Our current coffee from Gisheke - the Anoxic Natural is one of the new innovative processing methods that the Muraho team has pioneered. Cherries are placed into a deep cleaned fermentation tank and then covered with a sheet that is submerged by cool water. The seal created by the water pressing onto the sheeting creates a vacuum effect on the coffee below, creating an anoxic (oxygen devoid) environment for fermentation to begin, which lasts for 48 hours.
This method allows for the heat build up from the fermentation to be transferred to the water above which then evaporates away aiding the environment for a stable fermentation temperature. Once fermentation is complete the water is drained away, sheeting removed and the now fermented cherries are rinsed to remove any residual liquid before being turned out on the raised African drying beds. Once on these beds they are turned by hand every 30min to ensure optimal drying and airflow!
The team at Muraho are dedicated to excellence, community and great coffee and that is why we partner with them year after year! We love their passion for people and for specialty coffee, so look out for the line up of new coffees from Muraho from this years harvest!
Hobe! Hobe! Hobe!
