Seasonal Roasts
Summer 2026 Roast
Rwanda FTO - Coko CWS
Twongerekawa Coko is a co-operative based in Coko sector, Gakenke district, in Rwanda’s northern province. The co-op works with over 1,200 local smallholder farmers, each with an average plot of 1.3ha in size. This lot is Fair-trade and Organic certified with the producers making use of organic fertilizer, and mulching with coffee pulp. Gakenke district lies in North West Rwanda near the Volcanoes National Park, home to 1 of only 3 populations of endangered mountain gorillas in the world. Like much of Rwanda - “the land of a thousand hills” - the terrain is mountainous, rugged and exceptionally beautiful. Rich volcanic soils, plentiful sunshine, and tropical rainfall provide exceptional conditions for the cultivation of arabica, and the Bourbon variety particularly excels in the high elevations of Rwanda’s mountains.
Ripe cherries are carefully selected, first by hand and then by floatation in clean water tanks. The cherries are then de-pulped and dry-fermented for 12-18 hours. After fermentation the coffee is washed with clean high- pressure water in grading channels which also serve to further sort the coffee by density (the denser beans being of the highest quality selected for this microlot). The coffee is then dried in the sun on raised African beds for 14-21 days depending on climatic conditions. The coffee is covered during the hottest part of the day, during rain and at night to protest against damage. Throughout the drying process, the co-op’s processing team carefully turn and handpick the coffee to ensure a consistent drying process and remove any remaining defects.
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Country of Origin - Rwanda
Harvest Season - 2025/26
Bag Type - Grain Pro / Ecotact
Plant Species - Arabica
Processing - 12-18 hour fermentation, dried on raised beds
Notes - Lime, starfruit, dried apple
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History of Coffee in in Rwanda
The commercialization of coffee came about gradually in Rwanda and coffee was always produced on smallholder farms. Independence brought some improvement to the coffee infrastructure as the government established more modern and centralizing processing. But this meant the government set the price they would pay for coffee and farmers had no other options. There was no focus on quality because there was no incentive whatsoever. Despite much of the coffee being Bourbon, there was no sorting or grading so all the coffee was commercial grade. Rwanda exported 642,000 bags of coffee in 1993 and 447,000 in 1994. Then, as something of a stark reminder of the genocide, Rwanda exported a mere 22,000 bags in 1995. Today, Rwanda exports only 43% of what it did in 1993, but current exports represent much greater value because for the last 20 years the focus has been on quality rather than quantity. Rwanda’s ideal growing conditions are no longer wasted on poor processing. New washing stations have opened in all coffee growing regions, innovative cupping labs that arrive built into shipping containers, and cooperatives have been established. For the last 10 years, Rwandan specialty coffees consistently rank among the finest in the world.
Growing Coffee in Rwanda
Cherries are hand-picked when fully ripe and then pulped that same evening using a mechanical pulper that divides the beans into three grades by weight. After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight (for around 12-18 hours) and then graded again using flotation channels that sort the coffee by weight (the heaviest – or A1 – usually being the best). The wet parchment is then soaked in water for around 24 hours to stabilize moisture content.