The Long Miles Coffee Project
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.
This year has seen another slump in production in Burundi, volumes are significantly lower than the bumper harvest of 2022, but quality has remained at an excellent level, thanks to the Long Miles team’s tireless work at each of the stations.
Gaharo
This lot was produced by farmers on the Gaharo hill, and processed at Long Miles’ Bukeye station. The Bukeye station is in fact located at the foot of the Gaharo hill, so farmers here have a very short journey to deliver their cherry. Many of the farmers here have been part of the project since the start, even helping to build the station.
Bukeye uses a double fermentation process, where the cherries are first de-pulped and fermented without water for around 12 hours, before water is added and the coffee is soaked for a further 12 hours. After this, the coffee is ‘footed’ to wash away the sticky mucilage layer attached to the outside of the coffee seed. This involves the workers stomping on the coffee in the tanks before it is moved to washing channels to be rinsed in clean water. Coffee is then dried slowly on raised beds over 20-30 days, depending on weather conditions. This washed lot showcases bright redcurrant notes, delicate black tea character, and a deep caramel sweetness.
