Burundi

Burundi is always a washed process coffee (exporting natural/sundried coffee from Burundi is illegal!) There is a lot of low quality Burundi on the market, and when you get a bad one, all you can do is take it almost to a French roast and enjoy how sweet and smooth it tastes despite the darkness of it. When you find a good one, the medium roasts (try just to the 2nd cracks) will surprise you with tastes of figs, caramel, lemon, and sour cherry.  There’s no other coffee quite like it, but neighboring Rwanda would be its closest match.  Burundi is resurrecting its coffee industry after several decades of civil war.The quality has improved greatly in just the past few years, and will continue to grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years.

Burundi is a landlocked country which complicates bringing its coffee to the global market. Burundi was a well known name in specialty coffee 20 years ago, but during its civil war, the coffee stopped being exported and its coffee eventually became forgotten. Burundi coffee has been making a comeback in the past 5 years. The most common taste profile we find are the very acidic, citrus, delicate, lightly roasted beans with some caramel notes; but we seek out dense beans that can be taken to a dark roast and still showcase a sweetness and red berry undertone.