Rwanda Nyamasheke Karengera
Rwanda Nyamasheke Karengera
Farm Description
Karengera is a coffee washing station in southwestern Rwanda. A washing station is what they call a coffee processing mill in East Africa. The town and mill of Karengera is in the Nyamasheke district that lies near Lake Kivu, and the borders of Burundi and Congo. There have been many top lots from the washing stations in this area, and Karengera was a favorite when I made visits to Rwanda to cup this harvest.
This coffee is part of our Farm Gate pricing program.Cupping Notes
Floral, honey-like aromatics permeate the flavor profile of Karengera. The dry fragrance has sweet butter and honey with honeysuckle flowers. Adding hot water, the same sweetness persists with hibiscus as the dominant floral note. Full City roast features more cocoa-like aromatics, with brown sugar and caramel cookie in the wet aroma. The cup taste is in line with the aromatics. In light roasts, the brightness and flavor lean towards hibiscus with a tart but sweet flavor. Darker roasts have a more developed caramelized sugar character. Brown sugar and sweet cacao bring the sweetness together before finishing buttery and macadamia-like. We really like the mouthfeel at FC roast, creamy and opaque. It's a coffee that works with either a lighter or darker roast interpretation.
Score
Lot Size
Roast Recommendations
City+ to Full City+. Really works well across the roast spectrum.Processing
Varietal
Grade & Appearance
Packaging
Comments
#1 Great Range of Roasts
This is the coffee that I've been using for the Stretching Out the Roast articles over in the Sweet Maria's Library. I've found this coffee to have many great characteristics at different roast profiles, not just levels. Because the clean character, and bright acidity, adjusting the roasts to stretch this coffee out just a bit longer during 1st crack without stalling it, as well as a bit after 1st is done so that the brightness is more towards the middle and back of the palate makes for a really rounded cup that performs well in a number of different brew methods.
#2 Amazing SO espresso
Three days out from roast I've pulled amazing shots with the Nyamasheke Karengera. It reminds me of the Flor de Jamaica tacos at Ca Cao Mexicatessen in Eagle Rock, except caramelized, and with a touch of honey, not as tart as the taco filling. And my last shot had some cocoa to it, the most balanced of the 4 I've pulled so far. This was a stretched first crack while dumping the beans about 30 seconds after 1st crack settled down.
#3 3 roast profiles blend
blended the 3 profiles I roasted for the stretching out the roast pt 3 article that I'm writing for Sweet Maria's library. Brewed it as an iced coffee through the clever dripper. Still trying to nail my iced coffee technique, but this brew came out really nice, lots of caramel and cola-like sweetness throughout.