Floral, Lemon, Sweet

Variety: Red Bourbon

Processing: Washed

Origin: Gitesi, Rwanda

Producers: Aime & Alexis Gahizi

Altitude: 1750-1800M

Score: 87

Gitesi is a private washing station owned and run by a father and son team, Alexis and Aime Gahizi. The washing station was built in 2005 and began processing coffee in 2006. There are more than 1,800 farmers in the local community delivering their cherry to Gitesi washing station for processing. Competition for cherry can be pretty tough because farmers can deliver to whichever washing station they want, so the Gahizi family works hard to support the local community and provide the best facilities to maximize coffee quality. Gitesi is CAFÉ Practices certified and Rainforest Alliance certified, they have a modern waste water management system, and they produce organic/natural fertilizers using their coffee pulp. They also operate a pilot programme where small-holders can learn about growing different vegetables, ensuring that they have some income outside of coffee season.

This is the second year Nordic Approach asked Aime to separate the cherry from his own farm (adjacent to the station) and process it separately. And we're so happy he agreed to do so! This coffee has that distinct floral tea-like Gitesi profile but with greater clarity - which makes sense for such a small micro-lot. The lemony acidity lives up the cup, and a great sweetness throughout makes it an enjoyable cup start to finish. We've loved having coffees from Aime & Alexis' station this season - and it's a fitting salute to finish off our Rwandans this year with a coffee they both grew and processed. Enjoy!