Rwanda Karora Fully Washed 15+ (2023)

The Process

This lot is fully washed, whereby ripe cherries are carefully selected, first by hand sorting then by floatation to remove under-developed cherries (floaters). The cherries are then depulped and fermented for 12-18 hours, typically overnight, to break down the remaining mucilage. After fermentation, the wet parchment is washed by high pressured water and grading is done throughout long channels to separate coffee by density. During this grading stage, coffee beans pass through a series of gates that allow less dense, lower quality beans to flow through, while retaining the denser, higher quality beans for separate processing in top lots such as this.

The retained washed beans are moved from channels to pre-drying tables, where they are carefully sorted under shade for around 4 hours. Next, the beans are taken on raised drying tables numbered for around 14 days in warm days or 21 days in rainy days. The coffee is also sorted again for defects, any damaged beans and it is turned regularly by women (seasonal workers) and the latter are tasked to protect coffee from rain or the midday sun by using covers.