Tasting Notes: Red Wine, Strawberry Jam, Dark Chocolate
Kilimbi Washing Station (750 smallholder farmers) | Region: Nyamasheke, Western Province, Rwanda | Varietal: Red Bourbon | Mill/Washing Station: Kilimbi CWS | Exporter: Muraho Trading Company | Importer: [Importer] | Processing: Anaerobic Natural | Altitude: 1650–1850 MASL
Our average cupping score: 87.50
About the producer
Kilimbi sits on the shores of Lake Kivu in Nyamasheke District, in Rwanda's Western Province, and was the first washing station Muraho Trading Company built when the company launched in March 2016. Under station manager Radjab Mvuyekure and a core team of four full-time staff, Kilimbi receives cherry from around 750 smallholder farmers in the surrounding hills, processing 300 to 350 tonnes a year across washed, natural and honey lots. Some farmers deliver their cherry by boat across the lake — a daily reminder of how closely the station's life is tied to Kivu. This anaerobic natural lot is dense and winey, with a deep strawberry-jam sweetness, and a dark-chocolate, mouth-coating finish.
What makes this coffee stand out
For decades Rwandan law required all export coffee to be fully washed, and Kilimbi, together with its sister station Rugali, was the first station in the country's history to legally produce and export natural and honey processed coffee. It went on to become the first Rwandan station to successfully produce black and red honey lots, so the experimental processing behind this coffee is not a trend Kilimbi adopted — it's a tradition the station created. In an anaerobic natural, whole ripe cherries ferment in sealed, oxygen-deprived tanks before being dried slowly on raised beds, which pushes the fruit toward the wine-like, jammy intensity you taste here while keeping the cup clean and structured. Kilimbi's mid-altitude lakeside setting, with the moderating influence of Lake Kivu on temperature and humidity, gives the station unusually steady drying conditions for this kind of high-risk process, and its lots have gone on to feature in multiple barista competitions.
BREW RECIPE:
Ratio: 15g coffee, 250g water | Grind: Medium-fine | Water: 198F
0:00 50 g (bloom) 0:30 100 g circular pour, low agitation 0:45 150 g 0:53 200 g 1:05 250 g 3:00 Total brew time
