Love takes many forms, and at the Kmen roastery in České Budějovice, they found it this spring in a washed lot from the Muzo station in Rwanda. At Kmen, they selected this coffee as the perfect symbol of spring awakening. The coffee is light, delicate, and utterly delightful. Its flavor profile tells a love story of elderflower, with dominant notes of blooming cherry blossoms and the subtle tartness of raspberries. A hint of Earl Grey tea winds its way through the entire cup as you sip. This is not a dense or heavy coffee, but a refreshing experience whose delicacy evokes the sweetest May Day kiss. If you’re looking for a coffee you can fall in love with at first sip—one that caresses you with its purity—this Rwanda from Kmenu is exactly the love in a cup you must taste.
The roastery selected beans from the Muzo station, which, while the smallest of the four stations operated by the Baho Coffee team in the Gakenke region, enjoys an all the greater reputation. In 2014, this station even won the prestigious global Cup of Excellence competition, which only confirms its privileged position on the map of specialty coffee. At Kmen, we also value the strong human dimension behind this coffee. Baho Coffee’s founder, Rusatira Emmanuel, focuses on supporting disadvantaged groups, particularly women who often lead their families following the tragic events of Rwandan history. Red Bourbon coffee grows here on small family plots, where farmers care for every coffee tree with immense love, often while also growing food for their own consumption. In return, the Muzo station provides them with financial stability, seedlings, and essential training, making this Rwandan region one of the most important destinations for lovers of premium coffees with a clear origin.
Thewashed method is perfected with this lot. Careful selection and sorting of the cherries is followed by dry fermentation and thorough washing, which gives the coffee its characteristic clarity. The most interesting part, however, happens during drying. At the Muzo station, they use an extremely slow process on raised African beds, which lasts an incredible 90 days. This immense patience on the part of the farmers allows the Red Bourbon coffee beans to stabilize their character and fully develop their complex aromatics, which rapid drying would destroy.
- Altitude:1,600 to 1,800 mabove sealevel