Tasting Notes: Mandarin, Honey, Black Tea
Our average cupping score: 86.75
About the Producers
Mountain Harvest is a Ugandan coffee company for Ugandans by Ugandans. They are a team of quality controllers, agronomists, certification managers, coffee buyers, processing technicians, milling staff, and more. According to founder Kenneth Barigye, Managing Director, "Our reason for being in this business is to improve livelihoods." They are dedicated to helping farming families improve the quality of their coffee sand the quality of their lives.
As a prime example of how this works, Mountain Harvest's Chief Operating Officer, Nico Herr, shared, "In an effort to respect the traditional understandings of the Ugandan farmer, we buy farm washed (home processed) coffees from smallholder farmers. We do so with strident standards with transitionary measures:
1. Higher pay (we pay 30% above anyone else for higher quality)
2. Access to processing infrastructure (taurplins, moisture meters, some communities even have nice drying sheds and pulpers, certified calibration of farmer owned pulpers)
3. Transparent analysis of their coffee done directly in front of them so they learn next steps to meet the standards. We find that many say they have a great price for the standards given, but do not provide opportunity for the coffee to be bettered by the farmer, providing an education to meet the standard. Nathan, our Quality Manager, will work with farmers at our HQ for days to ensure they know exactly how to meet the standard. By next season, we find those farmers being high performers."
Because of their high standards and training of their field team, Mountain Harvest has quickly become recognized as the best source for high quality consistent Ugandan coffee. Mountain Harvest-sourced coffees are rigidly selected through strict quality analysis by their Quality Manager, Nathan Kotaki and his Quality Controller, Emma Amutuhaire.
What makes this coffee stand out
Located in the isolated hills of Mount Elgon, Mountain Harvest's four micro-washing stations serve as educational hubs. Mountain Harvest's impact is rooted in empowering local staff, like Uthman Muluwa of Mabono Station. Uthman began as a casual laborer, but his innate curiosity during downtime led him to learn processing. Within three years, he advanced from Processing Assistant to Lead Technician. His journey exemplifies Mountain Harvest's mission to cultivate professionalism in Uganda's coffee industry by seeing potential in everyone.
At Mabono, Uthman now oversees the entire process for this honey coffee. Select red ripe cherries are floated, pulped, and dried on raised beds to an ideal 11% moisture. After a careful rest in Mountain Harvest's warehouse, the cup reveals a complex profile of lemon, honey, and caramel. More than just coffee, these stations inspire the community's youth, showing a future in coffee built from within.
