Rwanda Kaokaka Women Producers

Here is one of many reasons to celebrate the month of March at ickle coffee. The arrival of Rwanda Kaokaka Rwemweru Women Producers. For the past 3 years we have been purchasing their coffees, not only to support the women of Rwemweru but for the consistently high quality coffee they produce.

Sweet, delicate, mandarin, rockmelon, honey

This special micro-lot was produced by 168 female farmers who grow coffee on small farms in the hills surrounding Karambi washing station, located in the Kigoma Sector of Huye District, in Rwanda’s Southern Province. The women are members of the Koakaka Cooperative, who own and manage Karambi along with two other nearby washing stations.

Recently the women of Kigarama Village banded together

and made the decision to process and market their coffee as their own. T

hey named their association Rwamweru, which is one of the six zones that Koakaka operates within.

The Rwamweru group is part of the larger “Icyerekezo Women’s Coffee Association,” which is made up of the 29 women’s farmer groups Koakaka works with. Icyerekezo translates to “Vision” in the local Kinyarwanda language – as the women formed it “with the vision to grow as strong women through coffee.” A fitting name given the amount resources and support they share with each other during the busy harvest period. To distinguish their coffee and ensure it is processed separately,

the women have organised to deliver cherry to the washing station on certain days of the week. Selling their coffee as a separate lot allows the women to directly benefit from any higher prices paid specifically for their coffees (rather than these profits being shared equally amongst all members) and results in a higher income to support their families. This creates an effective incentive for the women to work as a collective towards achieving the very best quality, and we think the results are evident in the complex and clean cup profile of these coffees!

COUNTRY : Rwanda

PROVINCE : Southern Province

DISTRICT : Huye District

ALTITUDE : 1,685–1,870m above sea level

VARIETY : Red Bourbon

PROCESSING : Fully Washed

WASHING STATION : Karambi Washing Station

FARMERS : 168 female cooperative members

AWARDS : Cup of Excellence 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018

This coffee was processed using the washed processing method at the Karambi Washing Station, using clean, natural spring water from the surrounding mountains. The team at Karambi are meticulous in their approach to processing, to ensure the highest coffee quality possible is achieved.

Roater's note

Rwanda has such a delicate but very round and buttery mouthfeel, we love the bright, soft acidity balanced with it's cacao notes that always feature in every Rwandan coffee we have ever purchased.

This coffee is a real everyday drinking coffee. Simple delicious that will sure brighten up your day.

Brewing tips

We have been grinding all our Rwanda finer than every other origin we roast as the structure of the bean is very dense, also higher water temperature helps bring out a lot more sweetness and mouthfeel.

Our go to recipe for both our Rwanda on V60 :

Ratio : 15g : 250g

Temperature : 98 C

Time : 3:00

Pulses : 1 bloom then 3 pours

Clicks : 21 on Commandante