SINGLE ORIGIN | MEDIUM ROAST - ESPRESSO
FARM: SMALL HOLDER FARMERS
PRODUCER: KISUNGA WASHING STATION
ORIGIN: NORTH KIVU | D.R. CONGO
VARIETY: BOURBON
PROCESS: WAHSED
Kisunga Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is one of 9 washing stations belonging to Virunga Coffee Company, setup by Schluter (now Covoya) in 2012 to produce high quality coffees for the specialty market and increase premiums for the thousands of smallholder farmers in the region. The strategy for Virunga has been three-fold: 1) To increase production through good agronomic practice 2) to improve quality through education and strict guidelines for production and processing 3) to obtain internationally recognised certification in order to generate better revenue for farmers.
Virunga now have now trained over 11,000 famers in GAP (Good agricultural practices) and have partnered them in organic certification. They have 35 field officers (trained agronomists) working in the region and distribute over 3 million seedlings a year to farmers in Eastern DRC.
Founded in 2021, Kisunga was the latest washing station established by Virunga Coffee Company in Eastern D.R. Congo.
Kisunga village is located in the Isale region of Nord-Kivu (North of Lake Kivu), on the edge of Virunga National Park, bordered by Uganda to the east. The region has excellent conditions for speciality arabica production with plentiful rainfall, high altitude and highly fertile volcanic soils. The region is also very pov- erty-stricken and has had a severe lack of infrastructure which has made high quality arabica both di - cult to produce and very challenging to export. Virunga Co ee Company has sought to overcome many of these problems through hands- on farmer education and investment in local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. This has allowed quality improvements every season and, in turn, higher premiums for farmers.
Ripe cherries are delivered to the wetmill for careful sorting and pulping, before fermentation for 18 - 24 hours, depending on the climatic conditions. Once the mucilage has been broken down sufficiently the parchment coffee is thoroughly washed in clean water channels and graded by bean density before being dried in the sun on raised African beds for 12 - 18 days, again depending on conditions, until the ideal moisture level has been reached. In the daytimen the parchment needs to be raked and turned periodically to ensure a consistent drying process and prevent mold or overfermentation. The coffee is also covered in the middle of the day to protect it from the hot sun, and at night time to protect it from rainall and moisture. Once the coffee has dried to the right level it is transported to Butembo for dry-milling, grading, sorting and handpicking (triage), before being bagged in GrainPro for export.
SINGLE ORIGIN | MEDIUM ROAST - ESPRESSO
FARM: SMALL HOLDER FARMERS
PRODUCER: KISUNGA WASHING STATION
ORIGIN: NORTH KIVU | D.R. CONGO
VARIETY: BOURBON
PROCESS: WAHSED
Kisunga Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is one of 9 washing stations belonging to Virunga Coffee Company, setup by Schluter (now Covoya) in 2012 to produce high quality coffees for the specialty market and increase premiums for the thousands of smallholder farmers in the region. The strategy for Virunga has been three-fold: 1) To increase production through good agronomic practice 2) to improve quality through education and strict guidelines for production and processing 3) to obtain internationally recognised certification in order to generate better revenue for farmers.
Virunga now have now trained over 11,000 famers in GAP (Good agricultural practices) and have partnered them in organic certification. They have 35 field officers (trained agronomists) working in the region and distribute over 3 million seedlings a year to farmers in Eastern DRC.
Founded in 2021, Kisunga was the latest washing station established by Virunga Coffee Company in Eastern D.R. Congo.
Kisunga village is located in the Isale region of Nord-Kivu (North of Lake Kivu), on the edge of Virunga National Park, bordered by Uganda to the east. The region has excellent conditions for speciality arabica production with plentiful rainfall, high altitude and highly fertile volcanic soils. The region is also very pov- erty-stricken and has had a severe lack of infrastructure which has made high quality arabica both di - cult to produce and very challenging to export. Virunga Co ee Company has sought to overcome many of these problems through hands- on farmer education and investment in local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. This has allowed quality improvements every season and, in turn, higher premiums for farmers.
Ripe cherries are delivered to the wetmill for careful sorting and pulping, before fermentation for 18 - 24 hours, depending on the climatic conditions. Once the mucilage has been broken down sufficiently the parchment coffee is thoroughly washed in clean water channels and graded by bean density before being dried in the sun on raised African beds for 12 - 18 days, again depending on conditions, until the ideal moisture level has been reached. In the daytimen the parchment needs to be raked and turned periodically to ensure a consistent drying process and prevent mold or overfermentation. The coffee is also covered in the middle of the day to protect it from the hot sun, and at night time to protect it from rainall and moisture. Once the coffee has dried to the right level it is transported to Butembo for dry-milling, grading, sorting and handpicking (triage), before being bagged in GrainPro for export.
![ETHIOPIA-COFFEE-WINE-PROCESS[42][52].png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/620cde29ee18017565b582b2/99e23ddd-6202-4f89-acf6-83a203cb017c/ETHIOPIA-COFFEE-WINE-PROCESS%5B42%5D%5B52%5D.png)
