
Muraho Trading Co.
This is our sixth year working with renowned Rwandan producers Muraho Trading Co. The coffees that they produce are quite simply some of the best Rwandan lots we have tasted at La Cabra, and Gaudam and Carthick Anbalagan, the brothers that run the project, are among the most innovative producers in the country.
Gaudam and Carthick were brought up in Rwanda but moved to Wellington, New Zealand as teenagers. After the devastating effect that the 1994 Genocide had on the country, the brothers felt they had to return and be part of rebuilding and recovering the land they had always called home. So they left life in New Zealand behind, moved back to Rwanda, and started work on the project that became Muraho.
Since then they have gone from strength to strength, and now own several stations throughout the coffee producing regions of Rwanda, exporting coffee to some of the world’s finest roasters. They have also innovated, having been the first to produce and export naturally processed coffees from Rwanda in 2016, after lobbying for government permission for several years. In 2023, they were also the first to export varietals other than Bourbon from Rwanda, a project we’re excited to be a part of.
Shyira
The Shyira Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is the highest altitude of the Muraho stations, located in the northern Nyabihu district. Shyira’s remote location also means it is the smallest station; a big driver in the decision to build here was the greater impact that Muraho could have on the very rural population. Here, their genuine drive for social change led to a focus on access to speciality coffee knowledge, and importantly pricing. Over several harvests now, Shyira has consistently produced our favourite lots out of Rwanda. The weather conditions here are perfect for both production and processing, the volcanic soils are healthy, and of course the high altitude leads to slow maturing, sugar-rich cherries.
This lot was fermented with cultures designed and manufactured in Copenhagen by our friends from Novonesis. We have partnered with Novonesis on several coffee fermentation experiments, and have always been impressed by the control and quality potential, while maintaining the origin characteristics of the coffee.
Novonesis
We visited Rwanda in the spring, during harvest, and spotted packages of Novonesis cultures at Muraho’s offices in Kigali. The team from Muraho had been experimenting on a small scale after a fermentation class. We placed the two teams in direct contact, and in collaboration with Novonesis and Muraho, designed a fermentation protocol. We guaranteed to buy the result of the experiment, and processed a batch at the Shyira station.
The coffee was de-pulped and added to an open tiled fermentation tank, before two of Novonesis’ cultures were added. The first was Pichia Kluyveri, or PK, a non-saccharomyces yeast often used in non-alcohol and low-alcohol beers, as it opens up complexity and aromatic intensity without creating excess alcohol. The second was a Lactobacillus culture, Harvest LB-1. This is often used in sour beers, acidifying the final product without the unpleasant ‘dairy’ flavour. Here, the acidifications helps ‘sterilise’ the fermentation, meaning the PK can outcompete other strains and dominate the fermentation. The LB also adds a bright acidity to the final cup. The process then continued as with a standard washed protocol.
This lot maintains the citrus acidity of the washed lot, but adds complexity in ripe fruit, with red berry notes, and a deeper and heavier body, with a creamy, dairy-like character. An interesting experiment, examining the effect of foreign yeast cultures on the characterful Rwandan terroir.