Rwandan coffee

Ingredients

Coffee

• 60 gwhole-bean washed Rwandan arabica, Red Bourbon from Huye, Nyamasheke or the Lake Kivu hills, roasted light to medium and rested 7–14 days after roast
• 1 litrefiltered water at 94°C (200°F)
• 1paper filter, rinsed

To serve

• Nothing, or 1 tsp sugar per cup
• Optional 30 ml hot milk, the way it is drunk in Kigali cafes

Directions

1. Boil the water and let it stand 30 seconds off the boil to reach about 94°C (200°F).
2. Rinse the paper filter with hot water to remove paper taste and warm the vessel, then discard that water.
3. Add the grounds, level the bed, and pour 60 ml of water in a slow spiral.
4. Wait 30–45 seconds while the bed swells and domes: this bloom means the coffee is fresh.
5. Pour the remaining water in three even additions, keeping the slurry level near the top of the bed. Total contact time should be 3 to 3 min 30 sec.
6. Swirl the brewed coffee, let it cool 1 minute, and drink from a warmed cup: expect orange blossom, red apple, lemongrass and a clean tea-like finish. For the roadside style, serve very hot in a glass with a spoon of sugar; Rwandans rarely mask a good Bourbon lot with milk.

Technique

• Rwanda is almost entirely Red Bourbon arabica grown at 1,500–2,200 m; the altitude and slow cherry maturation are why the acidity is bright rather than sour.
• The defect to know about is the potato taste defect, a raw-potato note caused by antestia bug damage. It hits single cups at random and is not a brewing fault; a good exporter sorts hard against it.
• Do not brew light-roast Rwandan coffee at a rolling boil. Above 96°C (205°F) the delicate floral esters are stripped and only the bitterness is left.

Substitutions

• No pour-over cone? Use a French press: 60 g coarse grind, 1 litre of 94°C (200°F) water, stir the crust at 4 minutes, skim, plunge at 8 minutes.
• If you can only find dark roast, drop the dose to 55 g and the water to 90°C (195°F) to avoid ashiness.

Variations

• Kivu lots skew red-fruited and syrupy; Huye Mountain and Nyamagabe lots skew floral and citric.
• A small but growing volume of natural and honey-processed Rwandan micro-lots gives strawberry and rum-soaked fruit instead of the classic clean cup.

History

German missionaries planted coffee around 1904; after 2000 a shift to washing stations and Red Bourbon turned Rwanda into a specialty origin.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rwandan coffee?

Rwandan coffee is a drink from Rwanda: bright, floral washed arabica from the hills around Lake Kivu and Huye. German missionaries planted coffee around 1904; after 2000 a shift to washing stations and Red Bourbon turned Rwanda into a specialty origin.

How long does Rwandan coffee take to make?

Rwandan coffee takes 5 min of preparation and 5 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 cups (each 250 ml). It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Rwandan coffee?

Yes, within limits. No pour-over cone? Use a French press: 60 g coarse grind, 1 litre of 94°C (200°F) water, stir the crust at 4 minutes, skim, plunge at 8 minutes. If you can only find dark roast, drop the dose to 55 g and the water to 90°C (195°F) to avoid ashiness.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rwandan coffee?

Rwanda is almost entirely Red Bourbon arabica grown at 1,500–2,200 m; the altitude and slow cherry maturation are why the acidity is bright rather than sour.