Burundi Shembati Washing Station: Sample Coffee Roasters

Burundi
Shembati Washing Station

We find flavours of apricot jam and orange blossom

Body Acidity

Shembati Coffee Washing Station was established in 2017 and serves around 4,000 smallholder producers in the area around Butaganzwa commune in the Kayanza region.

These producers deliver their harvests to the washing station, where it’s processed using a method that the station calls “double fermentation.” The pulp flesh of the fruit is removed, then the cherry is fermented dry for 12 hours, and fermented again for 6-18 hours underwater, before being fully washed. It’s is then soaked for 10-12 hours.

After this, the coffee is placed on tables under shade for 1-3 days, then moved to tables under full sun for a further 12-14 days.

The typical farmer in this area owns less than half a hectare of land. As well as growing coffee, they’ll also grow crops for sale and to feed their household – usually bananas, beans, yams, taro, and cassava.

Due to the small crops, you’ll notice that it’s more common to see washing stations and cooperatives shown as the producer for coffee in Burundi and other African countries.

Unlike Central and South America where landholdings are larger, in Africa most producers do not have the space or financial means to do their own milling and post-harvest production.

Instead, they’ll deliver cherry to a facility that does sorting, blending, and post-harvest processing of day lots to create different offerings, such as the one you’re enjoying.

Sourcing and ingredients

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

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Various Smallholder Farms
Country: Burundi
Region: Kayanza
Altitude: 1730-1800m above sea level
Varietals: Bourbon
Process: Washed
Harvested: June 2018
Body: Medium
Acidity: Delicate
Tasting notes: Apricot jam and orange blossom
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Bourbon varietal

A natural mutation of the Typica varietal, Bourbon is named after Reunion Island (then known as Il Bourbon) where the French cultivated the Typica plants which naturally mutated.

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.

The Kayanza region of Burundi

Northern region near the Rwandan border

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.