Baho Coffee FW - Southern and Western Provinces Blend

This is a 13/14 screen size blend of washing stations in 2 provinces of Rwanda: Southern and Western. The washed process start with the sorting of the cherries at the washing stations. The selected cherries are taken to a cherry hopper before pulping with a McKinnon machine using fresh or recycled water. The beans then undergo a dry fermentation stage for 8 to 10 hours. There is a partial washing and removal of mucilage and then another fermentation in water for 8 to 10 hours. The beans are then rinsed in water channels and taken to a pre-drying shed where we start a gentle drying process whilst the wet parchment is sorted. We finish the drying process on African raised beds with constant turning and sorting to remove defects. There is a final sorting stage after dry milling to prepare the coffee to export.

[Dry fermentation tank]

About Baho Coffee
With more than 15 years of experience in the Rwandan speciality coffee industry, the Rusatira family found the opportunity to set up our own four coffee washing stations. The location and specific management of each station show itself in unique flavour profiles. We developed our own grading system and are continuously experimenting with washed, honey, and natural processed coffee. All year round we work together with coffee producers to support them on the field, and financially, so as to produce the best coffee cherries of the region and boost quality year after year. All our attention goes to the selection, de-pulping, fermentation, washing, drying, storage, and continuous quality control.
“Baho means "stay alive" or  "be strong", "don't give up". It is the kind of thing you say to friends when they tell you of their misfortunes or problems. When they want to give up. You hug them and say "Baho!". You give them comfort. This is what I aim to achieve with my company and the coffees we produce, to give comfort to the ones who drink it and the ones who grow it. It is something that is deeply connected to my personal history as a genocide survivor and to the journey of coffee. Coffee is a crop that goes through many difficulties. It is hit by the weather, by bad management,  then you pick it, heat if with fire…  If you could ask coffee to tell you its journey you’d cry. I believe coffee can, in fact, speak. And for me, it says something like... Baho.”