Rwanda, Gitega Hill

Roast: Light-Medium              Alt: 1,700 MASL

Processing: Natural

Flavor Notes: Black Cherry, Chocolate, Berries

Region: Nyamagabe, Southern Province

Variety: Red Bourbon

Gitega Hills washing station is located in the hills of Southern Rwanda, just a short drive from the Nyungwe Forest, which has been traced as the furthest source of the Nile River. 

Bernard Uwitije, a native of the area, had been trading non-washed ordinary coffee up until 2015, when he realized the potential for fully washed specialty grade coffee. Despite being his first time with fully washed coffee, his overall experience in coffee was a great asset as he began to build his first wet mill. He equipped the station with a 1500kg Penagos machine, fermentation tanks, and raised drying beds.

These investments along with strong oversight have yielded very high-quality parchment in his first years of operation, and he has since grown the volume significantly, which led him to build two additional wet mills in the area.