Dried persimmon, rose hip and sweet citrus.
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We’ve been proud to purchase coffee from Rwandan father-and-son producers, Alexis and Aimé Gahizi, since first meeting them in 2013 and this season’s harvest is a great example of why.
At Gitesi, ripe coffee cherries delivered daily from nearly 1,800 local smallholder farmers are hand-sorted before pulping—a process that removes the skin and majority of fruit flesh from the seeds inside. The coffee then undergoes around 16-hours of dry fermentation and a 12-hour freshwater soak before being dried on raised beds for up to 15 days.
As we write this, the farmers of Gitesi are already harvesting again. According to Aimé, this is happening two months ahead of schedule and is a clear sign of the on-going impact of climate change. Beyond the base level of concern this should cause us all, it’s also a worrying reminder of the uncertainty and vulnerability facing many coffee farmers.
The sustainability and livelihoods of coffee farmers is never far from our minds as we select, purchase, and enjoy the coffees we share with our customers. In addition to continuing to work towards higher payments and tangible returns to the farmers themselves, back in 2015, we started
the Gitesi Project—a charitable initiative that raises funds to buy dairy cows and health insurance for coffee farming households in Karongi.
In 2021 we raised $8,000 for Rwandan farmers through the Gitesi Project which will see another 10-15 families supplied with enduring support. Our aim for this year is to hit $10,000 in funds raised and every bag of Gitesi purchased gets us one step closer to this goal.
Whether for its beauty in the cup, or the good it does on the ground, we hope you fall for this coffee as hard as we did and thank you for your support.
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Origin
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Karongi, Rwanda
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Producer
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Alexis & Aime Gahizi
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Variety
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Red bourbon
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Process
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Washed
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Harvest
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May - June 2021
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