ESPRECHELON - our seasonal, single-origin house espresso ///

Origin - Rwanda

Region - Karambi sector, Nyamsheke district

Process - Honey

Producer - Karambi sector smallholders, Gitwe washing station

Altitude - 1760m

Variety - Red Bourbon

Tasting notes - Cola, cocoa nibs, plum

Suggested espresso recipe - 18g in / 42g out / 38s

Our fourth espresso-specific coffee is a honey process Red Bourbon from the Gitwe washing station in the Nyamsheke district of south-western Rwanda.

We’ve been fortunate enough to roast coffees from this impressive washing station for the last two years, so naturally we’re thrilled to be able to offer this special honey process lot as our fourth house espresso!

Gitwe is the smallest of all Rwanda Trading Company’s stations in the Western Province. Covering an area of less than 1 hectare, it is blessed with being situated at the top of a mountain valley at almost 2000 metres. Just 3km from Gatare and near to the town of Kamina in the Karambi sector, Gitwe is the name of the land on which the station is built. Healthy coffee trees and tropical fruit line the trail down to the station from the road above.

Built in 2016, Gitwe was bought by RTC in 2018. They employed 6 staff full time with the addition of 50 more during the harvest season. 90% of staff are women. Despite being a tiny station, 1020 farmers contribute to Gitwe’s annual production of 500 tons of cherry, which is all high-scoring specialty quality.

All farmers delivering cherry to Gitwe receive agronomic training through RTC’s in-house program. Farm sizes range from just 150 coffee trees to 6000 (2.5 hectares). Though most farms are 2-3km from the station, many of the farmers are elderly with limited mobility and so the area is serviced by RTC through 15 cherry collection points dispersed around the area.