The Ishurwe Women’s Group is a group of around 454 women coffee producers from the hills surrounding the Izuba washing station in Kayanza Province in Burundi.
In the native Kirundi language, Ishurwe means flowers and Izuba means sun, which makes this coffee the flowers of the sun. A name that we find perfectly fitting. Juicy, crisp and sweet, this coffee is a shining example of what washed coffees from Burundi should taste like.
The cherries are farmed in the 3 main hills of Kigeri, Ryamukona, and Mugoyi surrounding Izuba. Despite coming from varying hills, altitudes and farmers, the ca. 453,000kg of cherry bought each year shows only very small deviances in flavour profile. In this lot, that profile is full of malic acidity, in my perception in a quince direction. Alongside the tart berries and deep brown sugar sweetness, this is a wonderfully clean and complex cup.
As with all of our coffees from Burundi, this coffee was imported by Raw Material. With their work in Burundi, they have achieved wage payments to processing staff at the Izuba that are 25% above all other local washing stations and 33% about the national average wage. We are truly grateful to them for all of their hard work at origin towards a proper living wage for the people who are the most important part of the coffee supply chain.