Description
This lot comes from the Katanda Coffee Washing Station, one of seven stations operated by Virunga Coffee Company in the Kivu provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Virunga was set up by Schluter, now Olam, in 2012, with a simple idea behind it: build specialty-grade processing capacity close to the farms, and push real premiums back to the thousands of smallholders who deliver cherry to it. There is no single estate behind this coffee. It is the pooled work of a lot of very small farms, and Katanda is where that cherry gets sorted, floated and turned into something exportable.
Katanda village sits in the Isale region of North Kivu, in Lubero territory, north of Lake Kivu and right on the edge of Virunga National Park, with the Ugandan border just to the east. Coffee grows here between 1,500 and 1,800 masl on deep volcanic soil, with plentiful rainfall and enough elevation to keep cherry maturing slowly. The trees are Bourbon, and the lot is certified organic and Rainforest Alliance. Processing is fully washed.
This is the traditional Congo, best at medium to dark roasts. A heftier cup with more rustic dark chocolate and spice notes, good body and mouthfeel with a little hint of brightness upfront at light-medium roasts, put there to remind you its still an African. Although its a stronger tasting, lower acidity and darker toned cup, it is surprising clean for a wild production Congo coffee. Light roasts themselves promote a citric crispness upfront and will still pull some balance with the richer darker tones, but they come off a bit more nutty with just a hint of the chocolate base note. Medium roasts drop the acidity to just a hint, bringing nice definition to the rustic chocolate and slight spice notes, smooth and creamy cup with a bit of exotic spice. Darker roasts promote a rougher bakers chocolate edge but it comingles with the roasty and rustic spice notes very nicely. For daily drip or pour-ever, keep it more in the medium roast ballpark. Iced or espresso, a little darker roast was preferred.
