BURUNDI raspberry ∙ rosehips ∙ dried raisin
We are proud to present one of the
season’s most exciting coffees that is
a wet processed lot coming from the surrounding hills of Musumba.
LONG MILES COFFEE PROJECT
M
importance of “purchasing right from the growers”. The project connects coffee growers, processing stations and roasters to improve the quality of the coffee.
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
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.
usumba seems to be no more than a deserted village. Its center is just a juncture lying at the altitude of 1805 metres. Rarely can you see a car heading towards the village. When Ben Carlson and the Long Miles project first came to the area, they were given a really warm welcome. “We had been told that one day white people would come and buy our coffee, but we didn’t believe a word of it”- they said. But since then they have understood that Ben is serious about his business. In order to improve the quality of the coffee, Long Miles supplies the local farms with soil improving products, gives micro-loans to them and provides clean water to process the coffee beans. All of these are vitally important.
Burundi has a predominantly tropical climate, but the mountainous coffee growing areas have a moderate sub-climate, with temperatures ranging from 17-23 Celsius. 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!
Musumba’s name has an interesting story. Long ago a king was on the run. He was being chased by a king from another region and was looking for a safe place to hide. He wanted to hide in Gaharo, but his enemies kept him from reaching it. He sought shelter instead on Musumba hill and during his stay he named it, “Musumba usumba Gaharo” or “better than Gaharo.”
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
MUSUMBA