Rwanda Dukunde Kawa Mbilima Washed Filter

Dukunde Kawa
Dukunde Kawa is a well-known producer group in Rwanda, as much for exceptionally bright and memorable coffees as for its exceptional business structure: the cooperative carries multiple certifications for its various washing stations including Fair Trade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ, and more than 80% of its workforce is women. Not only that but the organization is located in the Northern province, which, despite its closeness to Kigali, tends to be little-known in specialty coffee compared to the west and south. Since first organizing in 2000 with a single wet mill, years before the majority of washing stations in Rwanda even existed, Dukunde Kawa has received sustainability awards from the SCA as well as placing in the top positions in Rwanda’s Cup of Excellence competition. Today the cooperative has over 2,000 farmer members and multiple washing stations in the Gakenke District north of Kigali. Mbilima is one of these stations.

Mbilima
Mbilima was established by Dukunde Kawa in 2005 to give farmers in this area a shorter commute to deliver cherry during harvest (Ruli, the coop’s other nearest station, made for a long journey for many and the quality of cherry suffered as a result). Thanks to a mineral-rich soil and lush environment, the washing station and its contributing farmers successfully achieved organic certification in 2015. This is one of the highest elevations that Dukunde Kawa serves, with farms passing 2100 meters. Mbilima itself sits at 2020 meters, making it one of the highest washing stations in the country. Because of the high elevation and local climate, harvest here progresses slowly and members annually pick coffee into the month of October, multiple months past the majority of the country. Processing at Mbilima includes cherry sorting by the farmers themselves upon delivery. The cherry is then floated in a large receiving bay to identify and remove floaters (low-density cherry which is processed separately). Cherry is then depulped and the fresh parchment is graded immediately by flotation in a short channel. Fermentation usually lasts 18 hours and is completed without water. Once the dry fermentation is complete the parchment is soaked in fresh water between 18-24 hours to halt fermentation and the stabilize moisture content of the batch. After the soak the parchment is washed once again, this time in grading channels—long shallow concrete channels with water flowing through—which allows the parchment to naturally separate by density. From here, each separate density grade is moved to pre-drying tables to be hand-sorted for imperfections and gently dried to the touch. After the hand-sort is complete, the parchment is then moved to fully-exposed drying tables to finish drying, a process that takes between 14-21 days depending on the climate.