Burundi Turihamwe

Tasting Notes: Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Toast

Our average cupping score: 86

About the Producers

This coffee comes from Turihamwe ("together" in Kirundi), Burundi's first women-owned coffee wet mill, founded by seven farmers in Ngozi. Supported by women-led JNP Coffee and IWCA, they pooled $60,000 savings to build their mill, gaining control from harvest to sale. This empowers them to increase incomes, fund education, and reinvest in their community. From initially processing their collective harvest, Turihamwe now aims to produce 1,200+ bags annually, demonstrating how women's entrepreneurship can transform communities through specialty coffee.

What makes this coffee stand out

With the help of JNP Coffee, the IWCA, and Burundi Friends International, these coffee producers are able to participate in classes that teach financial literacy, leadership skills, and English. Such resources help these producers to develop and grow their coffee production, improve their homes and farms, pay for children's education, build savings, and invest their money overall. Rooted in strong producer partnerships, these efforts empower the farmers and their families to build resilience and expand their coffee production capacity.

One of JNP Coffee's renowned initiatives is the Dushime program, their Second Payment Day. The JNP Coffee team visits the farmers before each harvest, providing cash incentives based on the previous harvest's quality and the global market response. The second payment serves as a significant motivator, encouraging farmers to prioritize quality control. They have recently achieved a milestone of collectively paying half a million dollars in second payments since inception.

Pour over recipe:

Ratio: 18g coffee, 274g water | Grind: Medium-coarse | Water: 200F

0:00 60 g bloom, gentle
0:45 200 g medium height, create agitation
(just before bed dries) 274 very gentle, very slow

Target brew time 3:15