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Permalink Reply by Zak Rye on May 7, 2009 at 2:01pm

hey alex,
we just got in a washed burundi bwayi, lot 2- from cafe imports i believe. our bags literally arrived about an hour ago and we'll probably start sample roasting tonight- i'll let you know how it turns out in a few days.
if we don't screw it up- we'll gladly send you some samples.

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Permalink Reply by Branden on May 7, 2009 at 6:27pm

we got a Burundi (also from cafe imports, possibly the same coffee) and it is phenominal! we got alot of lemon and citrus. i hadn't heard of it until we got it in.

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Permalink Reply by Zak Rye on May 9, 2009 at 8:48am

yes, indeed, the burundi bwayi is baller.
we cupped it, made a chemex, and pulled some single origin shots, all were great. blood orange, honey blossom, some butterscotch, nice juicy mouth feel. as a sos, it was unbelievably sweet with a thick, silky texture, crisp acidity and lingering caramel finish.
we f'ing love it.

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Permalink Reply by Alex C. McGregor on May 9, 2009 at 2:38pm

Zak that would be rad, thanks man. I'll totally cover the shipping too. I really really want to try it as a sos. We're running Uganda Bugisu as a sos today and it's also incredible, heavily recommend checking that out. It's like a milk chocolate bar with toasted almonds and black cherries but settles on the back of your palate like caramel apples. So dang good.

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Permalink Reply by Alex C. McGregor on May 9, 2009 at 2:40pm

Yeah, I hadn't heard of it either. Stumptown got it during the USBC and cupped it about three and a half days after roasting at it was so so good. I loved the sweetness it left on my tongue, almost like agave nector.

Branden said:

we got a Burundi (also from cafe imports, possibly the same coffee) and it is phenominal! we got alot of lemon and citrus. i hadn't heard of it until we got it in.

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Permalink Reply by Kyle Fraser on May 11, 2009 at 6:58am

I cupped a Burundi "Ngoma Mild" a few weeks ago, it was AWESOME! The availibility is very low this year but next year's harvest should be big.

Should be getting a few bags, but we're roasting it in South Africa.

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Permalink Reply by Lem Butler on May 11, 2009 at 9:25am

Oh my I love the coffee from Bwayi, Burundi. Here are a few cupping notes from a couple weeks ago: Lots of fruit; citrus/lime, also fig, peach, tangerine, orange, grapes, plum, apricot, tomato, and fruit cake. also some spice, paprika, red pepper, and some chocolate. Medium high, ‘direct’ brightness, and nice syrupy body.
These were the notes from a cupping we had at the Counter Culture Coffee training center in Durham, NC. There were about 17 cuppers.

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Permalink Reply by Phil Proteau on May 11, 2009 at 12:51pm

I was fortunate enough to try both the Stumptown Bwayi and the Counter Culture Bwayi. Since they are essentially both from the same batch, it was curious to see the difference in results from two different roasting profiles. The Stumptown was a wee bit lighter, or perhaps had a sharper temperature incline, and had a real hyper lemon zing acidity. It had plenty of sweetness, so it came across like lemon jellies. The CCC version played up the sugar browning, with more butterscotchiness, but still with heavy lime-like citrus.

My understanding is that really good quality cultivation, harvest, and processing has only recently been introduced to the region. This is kind of its "coming out" (in the debutante way, not the closet way) year in specialty coffee. So I would expect a more abundant availability next season.

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Permalink Reply by Alex C. McGregor on May 11, 2009 at 4:44pm

Stellar guys, thanks for the feedback. I'm excited to see what next season holds for Burundi!

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