Ingredients
Coffee
- 60 gKivu arabica beans
- whole, freshly roasted
- a light to medium roast
Water
- 1 litrefiltered water
- at about 94 degrees
Equipment
- a burr grinder
- a pour-over cone and filter
- or a cafetiere
- a scale
To serve
- black, in small cups
- sugar, if wanted
- no milk, to taste it properly
Directions
- Let a boiled kettle stand for thirty seconds. That drops it to about the right point. Grind them just before brewing. Grind medium for a pour-over cone.
- Grind it coarse for a cafetiere. Put the paper filter in the cone. Pour hot water through it first. Discard that water afterwards. Dry paper contributes a papery taste. Add the grounds to the rinsed filter.
- Pour just enough water to wet them. About twice the weight of the coffee. Let it stand for thirty seconds. Hot water releases it as visible bubbling.
- Pour in slow circles from the centre outwards. Keep the water level fairly steady. Do not pour onto the paper directly.
- Take about three minutes in total. Judging the brew takes attention. Adjust the grind rather than the timing. Add coarse grounds to the warmed pot.
- Pour in all the water at once. Stir the crust after thirty seconds. Let it steep for four minutes. Press the plunger down slowly.
- Pour it out immediately afterwards. Coffee left on the grounds keeps extracting. Taste it black before adding anything. Add sugar only if you want it. It is drunk hot and freshly made.
Technique
- Eastern Congo suffered two wars from nineteen ninety-six and continued conflict for years afterwards, with death toll estimates running into the millions that vary widely and remain contested; coffee farms were abandoned, processing infrastructure stopped working and the export sector effectively collapsed. Farmer cooperatives led the recovery by pooling resources to build washing stations, which allowed proper processing and direct sales to specialty buyers.
- Kivu coffee was long carried across the lake and sold in Rwanda, where prices were better and infrastructure was working, so Congolese coffee left under another name; better local prices and processing have reduced that trade. Eastern Congo has not been fully at peace since, armed groups still operate in parts of the region, and farming there remains difficult and sometimes dangerous.
- The hills above Lake Kivu are volcanic and sit well above fifteen hundred metres, and high altitude slows the cherry as it ripens, concentrating sugars and acids; that is what gives the brightness in the cup, and a dark roast burns those delicate notes away entirely.
Substitutions
- A cafetiere works in place of a pour-over cone with a coarser grind.
- Any high-altitude East African arabica brews the same way.
Variations
- Light to medium roasts show this coffee where dark roasts flatten it.
- Several Kivu cooperatives sell under their own names to specialty buyers.
- It is drunk black to taste the acidity, with sugar if wanted.
History
Belgian colonists planted arabica in the Kivu highlands; the sector collapsed during the wars of the 1990s and has been rebuilt by cooperatives.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kivu coffee?
Kivu coffee is a drink from DR Congo: bright high-altitude arabica grown on the volcanic hills above Lake Kivu. Belgian colonists planted arabica in the Kivu highlands; the sector collapsed during the wars of the 1990s and has been rebuilt by cooperatives.
How long does Kivu coffee take to make?
Kivu coffee takes 10 minutes of preparation and 5 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Kivu coffee?
Yes, within limits. A cafetiere works in place of a pour-over cone with a coarser grind. Any high-altitude East African arabica brews the same way.
What is the most important thing to get right in Kivu coffee?
Pour in slow circles from the centre outwards. Keep the water level fairly steady. Do not pour onto the paper directly.
