The components of this blend have been grown by smallholder farmers. Over 2,000 producers supply the Ruli washing station in Rwanda while 750 producers are responsible for the Tanzanian component. Farm sizes range from a quarter of a hectare in Rwanda to 2 hectares in Tanzania.
Expect flavours of blackcurrant, cherry and a caramel sweetness.
Our current Latitude Espresso is all about smallholder farmers from Rwanda and Colombia. Here we share their stories.
RWANDA
Most of the small-scale producers with whom the Ruli washing station works own less than a quarter of a hectare of land, where they cultivate an average of only 250 - 300 coffee trees each as well as other subsistence food crops such as maize and beans. The cooperative gives these small farmers the chance to combine their harvests and process cherries centrally.
TANZANIA
The Muriba Coffee Processing Unit (CPU) process and bag coffee from various cooperative groups in Tarime. The CPU buys coffee from five groups and visits the collection centres of each group to gather the cherries during the harvest season.
Amongst these five groups are the Tagare group which represents 149 producers, half of which are women, and the Kema group, made up of 500 producers, 200 of which are women.
HARVESTING & PROCESSING
Cherries are hand-picked only when fully ripe and then pulped that same evening using a mechanical pulper that divides the beans into three grades by weight.
After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight. The wet parchment is then soaked in water for between 18 and 24 hours to stabilise moisture content.
Finally, the beans are moved onto the washing station’s extensive drying tables for around 14 days (depending on the weather), where they are sorted again for defects, turned regularly, and protected from rain and the midday sun.
HARVESTING & PROCESSING
Once the cherries are collected and transported to the CPU, they are carefully sorted to remove any low-quality cherries. The coffee is then pulped using a disc pulping machine to remove the external fruit. Next, the freshly cleaned coffee is fermented overnight in cement tanks to begin the breakdown of the external mucilage. The following day, the coffee is washed and soaked for another 24 hours to remove any remaining mucilage or foreign matter. After fermentation and cleaning, the coffee is dispersed on the CPU’s 400 tables to dry in the open sun for 7 – 15 days, depending on the temperature. Once the ideal moisture content is reached, the coffee is bagged and sent to the dry mill in Moshi to be hulled and prepared for export.
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