History & Origins
Buf Coffee was founded in 2000 by Epiphanie Mukashyaka, an inspirational and trailblazing businesswoman who overcame the incredible tragedy of the Rwandan genocide . Epiphanie lost her husband, a child, and many extended family members in the horrific genocide in 1994. She was faced with the responsibility of caring for her seven surviving children and rebuilding their life . With a limited education and little money or support, Epiphanie, whose husband was a coffee farmer, decided to focus on coffee, and set about rebuilding and developing a business, and with it the local community .
The name ‘Buf’ derives from ‘Bufundu’, the former name of the region in which its washing stations are located . Epiphanie became the first woman specialty coffee producer in Rwanda and the first Rwandan woman to own a private coffee company and establish a private washing station . In 2003, Epiphanie was approved for a loan to build her first coffee washing station, Nyarusiza, followed by Remera Washing Station in 2003 and Nyarusiza in 2005 . Today managed by her son Sam Muhirwa, Buf Coffee produces some of our most loved Rwandan coffees and has been instrumental in shaping Rwanda’s specialty coffee industry .
Buf’s operations have since expanded to three additional washing stations - Remera, Umurage and Ubumwe - and a dry mill. Today, they collect coffee cherries from nearly 7,000 smallholder producers, providing hundreds of jobs during peak harvest and 35 permanent positions year round . Buf Coffee’s exceptional quality has been recognised year after year. It was awarded a prize in the 2007 Golden Cup; and placed in the Cup of Excellence in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 .
Terroir & Growing Conditions
Buf’s washing stations are all situated in Rwanda’s Southern Province, an area with high elevations, cool average temperatures and mineral rich soil . The Coffee Washing Station coordinates show altitude at 1785m (from 1600 to 1900m) with soil type being Clay, clay – sandy with soil pH mean: 5.3 . Precipitation range is 1300 to 1400 mm with temperature range: 17 -18 degrees Celsius . Typically, farms in the area surrounding Remera are very small – averaging around a quarter of a hectare (or 300-600 trees) – and are situated between 1,750 to 2,100 meters above sea level .
The high elevation of the surrounding area allows coffee cherry to ripen slowly, resulting in a complex and sweet flavour profile . The cherries (100% Red Bourbon) have a unique taste created by mineral rich soils and water provided by the adjoining upper Nile Nyungwe national park . The region surrounding Ubumwe washing station is lush and verdant, as it has very rich soil, with high levels of phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and boron. These nutrients are key in the nutrition of coffee trees, as they promote cherry ripeness and root development .
Coffee is grown as a cash crop, alongside subsistence food crops like maize, beans and sorghum and some livestock like goats and chickens . In Rwanda, farms are smallholdings and have an average of some 300 trees . Coffee trees are planted 2 – 2.5 meters apart from each other, totalling about 2,500 trees per 1 hectare. One farming family tends to about 200 coffee trees .
Processing & Production
The quality control of farms and CWS under the BUF Coffee management is first-rate. Only ripe cherries are hand-picked and categorized and pulped the same night. They are separated by weight into three grades, fermented for 12 – 18 hours and graded again . Furthermore the beans are soaked in water tanks for 24 hours. They are dried under a roof for six hours and while damp, defect beans still remaining are removed again. The beans are finally sorted and dried under the sun for about two weeks (depending on the weather) .
Before being pulped, the cherries are deposited into flotation tanks, where a net is used to skim off the floaters (less dense, lower grade cherries). The heavier cherries are then pulped the same day using a mechanical pulper that divides the beans into three grades by weight. The beans (in parchment) are then dry-fermented (in a tank with no added water) overnight for 8–12 hours . They are then sorted again using grading channels; water is sent through the channels and the lighter (i.e. lower grade) beans are washed to the bottom, while the heavier cherries remain at the top of the channel .
Ubumwe’s first year of operation was in 2017, and the property includes Buf’s recently built dry mill, which is used to process all coffee produced by the company. This added control during the milling and preparation of the coffee allows for more micro-lot separation and experimentation. The property also includes a cupping lab facility, which ensures feedback provided during quality control is given to station workers in a more direct manner . When their humidity level reaches about 11%, they are carried to the dry mill in Kigali where they are cupped and evaluated by the Q-grader .
Cup Profile & Tasting Notes
Buf’s coffees have a distinct jammy sweetness and juicy acidity, and have been recognised in the Cup of Excellence on several occasions . Cupping comment: Orange peel, citric, silky, and brown sugar, syrups . Nyakabingo has lush sweetness in the cup and more than a sprinkling of top notes that range from delicate and perfumed, to sturdy and fruited. Like all coffees there are bittering and sweet flavors at the core, which are harmonious in Nyakabingo, drawing out a nice balanced backdrop. A honey flavor rises to the top as the cup temperature dips .
Black tea and lemon notes cultivate a briskness in the cup, and help to tie the hints of red raisin, hibiscus flower tea and dried berry to the core coffee flavors . Intense candy-like sweetness, juicy mouthfeel, and winey acidity with black cherry, muscatel, marzipan, rosehip and ripe strawberry jam characterize their natural processed coffees. Mutovu is a fragrant coffee, the dry grounds alluding to honey and raw sugars sweetness in light roasts, with hints of dried peach. The wet aroma is sweet, with a culmination of smells that reminds us of fresh baked ginger-molasses cookies, along with a more delicate honey floral note .
The reality is that pre-ship Rwandas are so bright and juicy 99% of the coffee-drinking population would not enjoy them. The resting and slower delivery is actually an advantage to us. The top-end acidity becomes sweeter and this brings me to why we can brew Nyarusiza as a One-Roast now . In the case of the Rwandan Naturals however we have found them to be quite distinct; like all naturals they are incredibly sweet and fruit driven, but notes like black tea, rosehip and muscatels also shine through in the cup as well .