Burundi Nemba

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Origin story and details

Producer: 1,074 smallholder farmers working with Greenco Coffee
Farm / Cooperative: Nemba
Region: Kayanza, Burundi
Altitude: 1700m above sea level

Nemba station lies in the northern province of Kayanza. Nemba is managed and led by an agronomist. The agronomist oversees the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and farmer education. They collaborate with the producers to ensure they have access to the necessary farming tools. The agronomist also helps farmers determine and implement the practices best suited to the specific growing conditions of their farming plots.

All 1,074 producers are smallholders who own an average of 150 coffee trees. The farms delivering cherry to Nemba are all located around 1,700+ meters above sea level, near the Kibila forest. The washing station has over two hundred drying tables and can process up to 750 metric tons of coffee cherry annually. Nemba uses a monitoring system to ensure traceability all along the production and processing chain.

The washing station participates in a number of farmer outreach and support projects centered on strengthening communities and improving yields.

Cultivation

Many trees in Burundi are Red Bourbon. Because of the increasingly small size of coffee plantings, aging rootstock is a very big issue in Burundi. Many farmers have trees that are over 50 years old, but with small plots to farm, it is difficult to justify taking trees entirely out of production for the 3 to 4 years it will take new plantings to begin to yield. In order to encourage farmers to renovate their plantings, Greenco purchases seeds from the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), establishes nurseries and sells the seedlings to farmers at or below cost. At the washing station, farmers can also get organic fertilizer derived from composted coffee pulp.

Despite the ubiquity of coffee growing in Burundi, each smallholder produces a relatively small harvest. The average smallholder has approximately 250 trees, normally in their backyards. Each tree yields an average of 1.5 kilos of cherry so the average producer sells about 200 to 300 kilos of cherry annually.

This coffee is IMPACT verified, ensuring that agricultural practices give priority to environmental protection and support of biodiversity.

Traceability

100% Red Bourbon coffee beans, provided by Sucafina and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, harvest date, and more) that our importers share with us for public use.

Being transparent helps us to talk confidently about the quality and background of the products we sell. It also helps you to know exactly what you’re buying.

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

Fresh harvest sourcing

Harvested: July 2025

The coffees we share are generally less than 1 year old (from harvest date). Sometimes, when and only if they meet our tasting standards, they can be a bit older, but normally no more than ~18 months.

While harvest age/freshness is a crucial factor in the final cup’s flavour, there are other elements in the pre-roast stage that can lengthen or shorten the potential of a green coffee lot:

quality of the drying/processing methods
packaging
storage conditions

Once in Australia, our green coffee is stored in temperature-stable warehouses arranged by each importer; each month, we draw what we’ll roast in the next 3-4 weeks. All lots are packed in GrainPro or vacuum packs, unless otherwise determined by the supplier (for example, the decaf bags).

Learn everything about this coffee:

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

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 all 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 materials

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

Best brewed 15–49 days post-roast

When you leave your whole beans to rest (inside the sealed bag) until our recommended window, you’re brewing at optimum flavour and acidity.

This time allows for the gas compounds, absorbed during the roasting process, to leave the coffee. If you brew too early, it may not be bad, but you’ll miss out on each coffee’s best flavour.

Our recommended brewing window

FAQs

Do you ship anywhere in Australia?

Yes! We deliver our coffee and brewing gear Australia-wide, roasted to order and in compostable and recyclable packaging.

Do you ship internationally?

We ship coffee beans to select international countries. Check the list to see if we ship to your destination.

Can I buy pre-ground coffee?

Yes, we offer pre-ground options for different methods:

- Ground for domestic espresso (home espresso machine)
- Ground for stovetop (Bialetti)
- Ground for AeroPress / Kalita / Cold Brew / Moccamaster / Plunger / French Press (immersion style)
- Ground for V60/Chemex (pour over style)

Do you source your coffee ethically? How so?

We source our coffee from small growers, producers, and cooperatives through responsible importing companies; 95% of our green coffee beans are supplied by Caravela Coffee, Cafe Imports, Osito, and Melbourne Coffee Merchants (certified B Corporations), plus Condesa Co Lab, Cofinet, and a few more.

We share all the traceability information we have about each coffee lot (territory of origin, producer, variety, processing method, importer, quality grade) on each dedicated coffee page. This applies to the blend components in our espresso blends.

Learn more about our coffee philosophy.

Do you roast dark or light?

We roast our single origins using omni roast medium/light profiles. (Omni means you can use the coffee both for filter and espresso brewing, no need to buy different bean bags with specific roast styles.)

We roast our espresso blends using darker profiles.

Learn more about our approach to roasting.

What is ‘specialty coffee’?

The definitions and references to specialty coffee are tricky, if not controversial.

Historically, and as most people see it these days, specialty coffee is Arabica beans that score over 80 in the old Specialty Coffee Association point scale. Today, the SCA refers to specialty coffee as “a coffee or coffee experience that is recognised for its distinctive attributes, resulting in a higher value within the marketplace.”

Our single origins are Arabica +85 SCA score and our blend components Arabica +80, which could be considered ‘true specialty’ coffee. Though we prefer to use the term ‘high quality’ and back this claim with solid traceability data.

What’s the benefit of your coffee subscription?

When you subscribe, you get freshly roasted coffee delivered as often as you need, so you don’t have to be so hands-on in planning your coffee purchases.

Also, you get free shipping on every delivery, and you can cancel or pause whenever you need – no lock-in periods.

Can I buy these beans in your coffee shops?

Yes, definitely! You can walk into any of our cafes in Sydney (or our wholesale network) and grab what’s available on the shelves. You can also buy online here and select free pickup from the Sample Coffee stores.

See all our FAQs

Sample Coffee Roasters warehouse in St Peters, Sydney

With love, from Sample

We’re an independent coffee roasting company based in Gadigal land / Sydney, Australia

We’ve been sharing exceptional coffees since 2011, with a particular focus on rotating single origins, ethical sourcing, and homebrewing accessibility.

Our daily work is driven by quality, consistency, transparency, and fun. This approach has slowly and organically connected us with a community of homebrewers and professionals who value how we do business and, above all, love delicious coffee beyond the hype.

Learn about us