Burundi coffee beans: Why aren't you looking for them? A great under-the-radar coffee.
Small country, big coffee. The latest series of episodes from Coffeeists focuses on the unique coffees from the small country of Burundi in Central Africa. Episode 1 is an overview of this exciting and often overlooked coffee origin.
Renowned coffee-tasting expert Kenneth Davids will lead viewers in a blind tasting of five Burundi coffees from five outstanding coffee-roasting companies. Ken has been involved in coffee since the early 1970s and has published four books on coffee, including Home Roasting: Romance and Revival, now in its second edition, and Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying, which has sold nearly 250,000 copies in five editions. His most recent book is 21st Century Coffee: A Guide.
This series is hosted by brewing expert Kevin Sinnott. Kevin is a Chicagoland comic trained by Second City. He is also the host and creator of Coffee Con Festival, a roving coffee festival established in 2011 that has hosted over twenty festivals nationwide in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco.
Each set of Coffeeist episodes focuses on five coffees that are related in some way, usually by having been grown in the same region of the world. Viewers watch and learn as Ken and Kevin taste each of the five coffees and together discover their character in the cup and discuss the reasons they taste the way they do. This current series of episodes focuses on Burundi coffee, its unique characteristics, and that country’s coffee-growing practices.
Burundi Coffee Profile: Burundi is part of the larger African Great Lakes coffee-growing region, including neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, which produces high-quality coffee with distinctive taste profiles.
Geography and Growing Conditions: Burundi is a small country with very high growing elevations which help create a terroir crucial for growing Arabica varieties related to Bourbon. These varieties and the high growing elevations contribute to the resonantly bright, complex flavor profiles characteristic of Burundi beans.
Processing Methods: Viewers learn about the traditional double-washed processing in Burundi, in which coffee cherries undergo a two-stage fermentation and washing process. Experimentation with newer methods like natural and honey processes is increasing.
Small Producers: Coffee production in Burundi is dominated by small-holding farmers who often produce no more than the equivalent of one 130-pound bag of finished coffee each. These farmers take their coffee cherries to mills called washing stations for processing, which is a pivotal step in determining the coffee’s final character and quality.
Cultural Insights: This episode touches on the challenges and traditions of Burundi’s coffee farming, including stories of farmers walking long distances to washing stations and sometimes waiting months for payment.
Tasting Notes: The show explores the clean, deep-toned acidity and complex flavor of Burundi coffee, with comparisons to profiles of other admired Central and East African coffees, like Kenya and Ethiopia.
