Long Miles
The Long Miles Project, founded by Ben and Kristy Carlson, began work in 2013, aiming to raise the bar of specialty coffees coming out of Burundi. The project works with more than 5,000 individual coffee farmers living near three central washing stations, Bukeye, opened in 2013, Heza, from 2014 and Ninga, which had its first harvest in 2020. There are several reasons why producing speciality coffee in Burundi is an incredibly difficult task. There’s the incredibly unstable political situation, where government can change rules on coffee prices and value chain seemingly overnight, the practical challenge of being a small landlocked country attempting to export coffee by sea freight, the constant threat of unrest. But through it all the Carlson family have managed to establish themselves as producers and exporters of consistently delicious coffees, all the while providing some semblance of stability to the lives of smallholder farmers that surround their washing stations in the northern Kayanza Province, near the border with Rwanda.
Bumba Hill
This is only the second year we have released coffees from the Bumba hill. Coffees from Bumba are processed at Long Miles’ most recent station, at Ninga. The new station has allowed Long Miles to expand their presence in the region, discovering new sources of excellent quality coffee. Bumba is one such example of the remoteness of the Ninga region, far from the reaches of electricity or running water. Coffee is the most important cash crop here, grown alongside a small selection of food crops for local consumption.
This incredibly remote nature of the region surrounding Ninga meant that access to the Long Miles eco-system of support was limited. With the completion of the new Ninga station, this changed, giving farmers full access to the Long Miles ‘Coffee Scout’ programme of agronomic support, and to fair and transparent pricing for the cherry they deliver.
Continuing on the cyclic nature of Burundi’s coffee harvest, this year has seen another jump in production, volumes are significantly higher than last year, but not quite as large as the bumper harvest of 2022. Quality has remained at an excellent level, thanks to the Long Miles team’s tireless work at each of the stations.
This lot was first de-pulped, before an anaerobic fermentation of 48 hours in sealed plastic tanks. The coffee is then taken directly to raised beds, with mucilage still attached. The coffee is then dried as a honey, turned often over 20-30 days, depending on weather conditions.
The anaerobic pre-fermentation of this lot leads to notes of soft peach, complex tropical fruit and a delicate, herbal rooibos finish.
