We are always on the lookout for new and exciting coffees. A few weeks ago our friends at Falcon Coffees sent us an outstanding sample of a coffee from the Congo. This isn’t an origin with a great history of speciality coffee production but we’ve seen coffee from the country pop up occasionally from other roasters. The west side of the Congo borders with Rwanda and shares an almost identically climate and soil quality to the co-operatives that we buy from located near to Lake Kivu. We roasted the sample using our Ikawa roaster, tested the moisture content and water activity readings followed by a cupping the following day. The data readings all gave indications that the coffees were processed and dried well and it tasted fantastic when we cupped the coffee. It tasted like an infusion of a great Kenya with juicy, sweet vine tomato notes combined with the wonderful caramel, brown sugar sweetness that we often find in the best coffees from Rwanda. It really stood out among the other samples we cupped that day so we’ve selected it as our first ever coffee from the Congo.
It’s grown and harvested by small hold farmers who will deliver the coffee to a local processing facility where it undergoes a fairly traditional washing process. Latumba washing station is located along the shore of Lake Kivu and has 1400 members. The facility was started in 2014 by a Belgian NGO (Comequi). They have been working in the region since 2009 helping to train and educate coffee farmers on coffee growing, tree maintenance and good harvesting practice. Many of the trees planted by the farmers were given to them for free as part of a development program in the region. They have encouraged and given out several very good varietals to help improve cup quality. Although not certified, all the coffee grown in this region is organic and no pesticides or artificial fertilisers are used on any of the trees.
It will be available to order online from the 14th of November and will also be available to our wholesale customers from the same week. We hope you enjoy this outstanding coffee!
