From source to sip
The story behind your next cup.
In the highlands of East-Central Africa, Burundi grows coffee on hillsides few outsiders ever see. Here, in Kayanza province, hundreds of smallholders pool their harvests under one name: Twaranyuzwe, which means "We have understood."
Burundi is a small, landlocked country wedged between Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Coffee arrived here in the 1930s and now anchors the rural economy, with most of it grown by families tending just a few hundred trees each. The country sits at high altitude across much of its territory, and the cool nights of Kayanza province slow cherry maturation, concentrating sugars and acidity in the fruit. Read more about why altitude shapes the cup .
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The Coffee Story
The SourceA Cooperative Built on Understanding
Burundi is a small, landlocked country wedged between Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Coffee arrived here in the 1930s and now anchors the rural economy, with most of it grown by families tending just a few hundred trees each. The country sits at high altitude across much of its territory, and the cool nights of Kayanza province slow cherry maturation, concentrating sugars and acidity in the fruit. Read more about why altitude shapes the cup .
The Twaranyuzwe cooperative was formed in 2013 by hundreds of small farmers who recognized they could secure better prices, equipment, and community resources together than alone. Of the 915 producers in the surrounding hills, roughly half belong to the cooperative and deliver their cherries to the Kuvumu Washing Station, where the careful work of separating good fruit from bad begins.
The CraftHand-Sorted, Fully Washed
At Kuvumu, only ripe red cherries make it through. Workers hand-sort the day's harvest, pulping the fruit and fermenting it to break down the sticky mucilage before washing the seeds clean in channels of cool mountain water. The coffee then dries slowly on raised beds, turned by hand to ensure an even finish. This fully washed method produces the clean, transparent acidity Burundi is known for. Learn how washed and natural processing differ .
We roast this coffee to City+ at our Virginia Beach roastery, a level that keeps the Bourbon variety's brightness intact while building enough body to carry its sweetness. The aim is balance: citrus and stone fruit on top, a rounded base underneath.
The CupCitrus, Stone Fruit, and Tea
The first sip leans sweet and juicy, with ripe peach giving way to a wash of lime and grapefruit acidity. As the cup cools, a black tea quality settles in, lending structure and a gently drying finish. It is full-bodied for a washed African coffee, the kind of cup that holds up to cream yet rewards drinking it black.
