Burundi - Izuba

An exciting red bourbon from Izuba in Kayanza Province, Burundi. Expect a delicious coffee with flavours of orchard fruits and papaya with floral notes. We are currently offering this special anoxic washed coffee in 200g bags to make it more affordable.

Izuba meaning “sun” in Kirundi, is located in Runinya, Kabarore Commune, of Kayanza Province. The Izuba washing station is set close to a nearby river, providing a vital and regular freshwater source for coffee processing. Izuba is near the Kibira national park, where the soil and climate create an environment that's fantastic for coffee production.

Once cherries are received, they are hand-picked and floated to ensure only those of the best quality continue to the processing stage. These cherries are placed into a deep cleaned fermentation tank, which is hermetically sealed. Fresh cool water is then poured on top of sealed coffee. The seal created by the water pressing onto the sheeting creates a vacuum effect on the coffee below, creating an anoxic environment for fermentation to begin.

The water and sheeting act as both sealant and heat exchange, allowing the heat build up to transfer to the water, which evaporates away. A stabilised temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius ensures that the cherry doesn’t over ferment. This temperature is regularly monitored, and if it falls too low for fermentation to continue, hot water is added to the water pillow, to provide warmth to the fermenting coffee underneath.

Once the fermentation is complete, the water is drained, and the sheet is removed. The fermented coffee is then rinsed and drained of all residual liquid, before drying in the sun on raised beds.