Gakenke Washed

The Gakenke washing station was built in 1991 and can process up to 750 metric tons of coffee a year. It has over 2500 small shareholders each with 250 coffee trees on average. Each tree yields roughly 1.5 kg of coffee cherry which means the average producer is able to sell 200-300 kg of coffee. The cherry is pulped within 6 hours of delivery and separated by density, then the coffee is fermented with water for 10-12 hours before being rinsed then sorted again for density. This repeated sorting results in a very consistently fermented and dried coffee.

The arrival of Burundi coffees is always a great way to finish off the winter. The flavors are usually rich with warming notes of red fruit and spices. This washed lot from Gakenke was a standout with the fruit notes starting off with big vibrant notes of grapefruit with a deep sweetness of apricot and finished with the subtle dryness of black tea.