Plum. Blueberry. Dark Chocolate.

About this coffee :

This coffee is produced at a brand new washing station, Bulambuli and the cherries come from smallholder communities. Its located in the Mbale area in Eastern Uganda, close to the Kenyan border, and our coffee grows at altitudes between 1800 – 2300 masl. Besides quality, our main criteria for buying is that the coffees are fully traceable, including the cherry price and premiums going directly to the producers.

The washing station was built in the first half of 2021. It’s designed for volumes up to 5-6 containers per season. But production will depend on cherry purchase and quality at delivery. The cherry purchase, pulping, fermentation and dripping (pre-drying) + drying of most of the washed happens at the site. Besides the washing station, they have a drying yard and warehouse down in the outskirts of Mbale town. The capital city of the east. The naturals are mostly dried at the yard down in Mbale town (1 hour away) with additional drying capacity. This allows them to manage fermentation and drying of the naturals more thoroughly.

Cherries are sourced and bought from smallholders in specific small towns and communities from about 4 sub-counties in the Bulambuli district.

Harvest and cherry selection

The cherries are either bought at small collection centres or delivered directly to the washing station. Then, cherries are sorted and depending on the process, these will be taken either to the pulping area for washed coffees or to the yard down in Mbale for drying. Sometimes, cherries can also be delivered directly to the yard for sorting and drying.

Fermentation

For washed coffees they are pulped, and the parchment fermented in traditional tanks. For naturals the cherries are normally fermented on the drying tables managed by adjusting layers according to the type of prep and fermentation we want. We also experiment with cherries fermented in bags or buckets before being dried in thin layers on raised beds.

Drying and hand-sorting

For the regular preparation of washed, the cherries are dried on beds in a parabolic drying tent on raised beds at the washing station.

For naturals at the yard, it’s a mix of beds under shade and under the sun. The coffees are moved frequently and they will be covered during the hottest hours of the day to protect the cherries from intense sunlight, then again at night to protect against humidity. This creates a slow and homogenous drying process which adds to the coffee’s quality. Drying naturals with this method and in this environment takes between 15 to 20 days.

This coffee is vibrant, super sweet & juicy. With fruity notes of plum & blueberry, and finished with dark chocolate note. A clean smooth coffee best enjoy on any filter brew. 

Brewing Recipe:

200g pack coffee ship in 1-2 working days
400g & 1kg pack is roast to order, ships within 3-5 working days