Burundi
Masha
Honey

The honey process boosts this brew’s texture and body. We find notes of stewed rhubarb and marmalade sweetness, with crisp chinotto-like acidity on the finish.

Honey process Red Bourbon

Flavour: chinotto, stewed rhubarb, marmalade

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

Burundi is (thankfully) back after a (too long) hiatus in our coffee lineup!

Masha Coffee Washing Station is located in Burundi, which is a country well-known for its coffee production. The sub-hill where the washing station stands is called Masha, meaning “herds of cattle” in Kirundi, due to its historical association with cattle herding.

The washing station was established in 1989, and it primarily purchases coffee cherry from subsistence farmers who intercrop their trees with food and other cash crops. In order to encourage farmers to renovate their plantings, Greenco, the company that oversees the washing station, purchases seeds from the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), establishes nurseries, and sells the seedlings to farmers at or below cost.

During the harvest season, all coffee is selectively hand-picked, and quality assurance begins as soon as farmers deliver their cherry. Cherries are wet-processed under constant supervision, and the pulping, fermentation time, washing, grading in the channels, and a final soaking are all closely monitored. Once dry, the parchment is then bagged and taken to the warehouse. Greenco’s team of expert cuppers assess every lot at the lab before shipment.

The coffee is sent to Budeca, Burundi’s largest dry mill, where it is milled and hand-sorted by a team of hand-pickers who look closely at every single bean to ensure zero defects. The mill produces an average of 300 containers of 320 bags per year.

Learn more about Burundi and its coffee history here.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: ~2,000 Farmers Near Masha C.W.S.
Country: Burundi
Region: Kayanza
Altitude: 1,670m above sea level
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: honey
Country grade: AA (Burundi)
Importer: Sucafina
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Chinotto, stewed rhubarb, marmalade
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Red Bourbon variety

The location

Coffee from Burundi

Coffee first arrived in Burundi in the 1920s while the country was still under Belgian colonial rule. Since the civil war in 1993 Burundi has placed a great importance on growing the coffee industry and the flow on effects that will have on the country’s economy.

Farm processes

Honey process

This technique leaves some flesh on the coffee cherry as it is washed and dried. This tends to give a slightly sweeter flavour, but can also reduce the quality and longevity of the coffee due to the fermentation of the sugars in the flesh.