BURUNDI strawberry ∙ lime ∙ figs
We are proud to present one of the
season’s most exciting coffees that is a naturally processed lot coming from the surrounding hills of Munyinya.
LONG MILES COFFEE PROJECT
M
unyinya lies just beyond the border of Bukeye province, approximately 4 kilometres from the washing station of Long Miles Bukeye. A winding dirt road cuts into the side of steep mountains leading to scenic views of valleys deep below. You can visit all of Munyinya in just a few minutes, as it is only a tiny village consisting of a few mud huts surrounded by corn fields and coffee plantations. This coffee, which was named after a hill, is a dry processed one, meaning that no water was used during the post-harvest process. It is an exceptional blend of Bourbon and Jackson varieties. Long Miles is a project started in 2012 with the aim of finding and marketing the best micro-lot coffees in Burundi. The philosophy of the project is to unite all quality-oriented local coffee growers. Long Miles is a family enterprise that really stresses the importance of “purchasing right from the growers”. The project connects coffee growers, processing stations and roasters to improve the quality of the coffee.
We have become dedicated partners of Long Miles, directed by Ben Carlson. As we have met him on several occasions, we are absolutely sure that no other organization can take quality-oriented coffee growing more seriously. He firmly believes that the best coffees in the world come from Burundi and are produced by the farmers of Long Miles. Compared to prominent coffee exporter countries like Kenya or Ethiopia, Burundi is just a small fish in a pond, albeit an ever growing one. Burundi’s share in the world coffee market is only 0.5 percent, but thanks to the local initiatives and reforms more and more high quality coffee is exported from this east-African country. The Belgians started large-scale coffee growing in Burundi during the 1960s, but despite the favourable geographical features of the country, the coffee produced in Burundi all ended up on the bottom selves of supermarkets as cheap brand coffees.
The stable and predictable weather makes it an ideal place to grow coffee. Thanks to the country’s geographical features almost every hill, or colline in the local language, has its own micro-climate. There are several farmers that have more than a hundred thousand coffee plants, and the number of such large-scale farmers is way above the national average.
Our coffees taste the best when extracted with water of the proper hardness* range. In order to highlight the best flavour of our roasts we recommend having 5 to 10 days of resting period after roasting, but consume within two weeks of opening. Enjoy!
The local farmers would like to be more than simple coffee growers. They would like to establish an own processing station and to play a more active part in the coffee production. Although most families rely on coffee production for their livelihood, Munyinya coffee fetched a fairly low price on the global market until 2012, when Long Miles Bukeye processing station started its business.
Burundi has a predominantly tropical climate, but the mountainous coffee growing areas have a moderate subclimate, with temperatures ranging from 17-23 Celsius.
COFFEE. PEOPLE. POTENTIAL.
* Total hardness: 50 –175 ppm CaCO3 (2.9–9.8 °d), ppm CaCO3 (2.2–4.2 °d), pH: 6.5-8.0.
alkalinity/buffer: 40 –75 (The SCAE Water Chart)
photo by the Long Miles Coffee Project
MUNYINYA