Muzo 36-Hour (Rwanda)

Introducing the first anaerobic natural to bless the shop! It’s not subtle either; this coffee screams of pineapple juice and has a sweet vanilla pudding finish. Hints of dried coconut join the party as it cools down. I hear Rupert Holmes's “Escape” playing in my head now…

I always appreciate Baho’s high-caliber coffee. This one is different from their offerings I’ve sourced in the past – it represents a new initiative to expand their experimental processing options moving forward. This small, exclusive lot (just one 30kg box) contains cherries from the Muzo washing station that underwent 36 hours of anaerobic fermentation. It was essentially a trial run for future harvests, and the results are incredible! The tasty results are a product of quality cherries from Muzo and careful attention to the fermentation process. The Muzo station receives cherries from an average elevation of 2000 masl, the highest zone of Baho harvests.

This process is labeled anaerobic without truly being so – a low-oxygen environment at the outset gradually loses more oxygen over time. Plastic barrels are filled with whole cherries and sealed off from new oxygen. A valve on each barrel lid ensures that building pressure can escape as CO2 levels increase during fermentation, displacing the existing oxygen. Bacteria and yeasts in the barrels change during this process according to the environment temperature and fermentation rate. This method typically produces intense fruit flavors in the cup (no exceptions here). A long and slow drying period concludes the process, during which the ambient temperature is carefully monitored. Cooler temperatures are a key factor in resulting flavor clarity and sweetness. This coffee was dried for 32 days before being bagged, stored, milled, and shipped.