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This exceptional Rwandan offering comes from the Ikizere Women’s Group. Since Evan first cupped it, this lot has continued to impress – glowing acidity and a full spectrum of flavor nuances. Expect notes like golden raisin, cranberry, and tangerine, supported by a jammy apricot foundation.
The Ikizere group began in 2020 as a space for widows and single mothers navigating the unique challenges of a traditionally patriarchal coffee sector in Rwanda. Over time, it expanded to include married women leading their families' coffee production. Now, the group consists of over 100 women across multiple Baho stations. In Emmanuel Rusatira's words:
"We decided to bring these women together, through coffee, and revive their hope by showing them that we consider them as part of the community and they are equally needed, important, and valued."
That's not just rhetoric – Baho backs it with the highest cherry prices in the country, full health insurance coverage, financial education, short-term loans, and access to clean water.
Their washing process is meticulous. After intensive cherry sorting and multiple rounds of floating, the coffee undergoes an 8-hour in-cherry fermentation followed by depulping. A 12-hour wet fermentation period and rigorous washing through grading channels remove remaining mucilage and separate beans by density. The freshly washed coffee then moves through a unique "skin drying" phase on fully shaded beds for 12-72 hours before finishing off under a semi-shaded drying canopy, ultimately reaching a target moisture below 11% in 28 days total.
Sourced through Baho Coffee and Sundog Trading, this lot represents 115 smallholder farmers in Nyaruguru District at 1,700–2,000 masl, each committed to specialty coffee as they lead their communities forward.