Previous Coffee Release: ISALE Washed Organic coffee from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Released April 23rd 2021

ORIGIN INFORMATION

Grower: Smallholder coffee farmers

Region: Isale, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

Elevation/Altitude: 1500 - 1800masl

Plant Species: Arabica

Variety/Cultivars: Bourbon, Blue Mountain, Typica

Process: Washed

NEW COFFEE ALERT!

A delicious Congolese coffee! This cup is full of chocolaty spice and soft stone fruit tones like white peach, mild acidity, and a creamy body. THE PROCESS Organic, ripe cherries are delivered to the washing station for sorting and flotation to select only the ripest for processing. The cherries are de-pulped using a Penagos eco-pulper, fermented for 18-24 hours and then washed in clean water grading channels. Once thoroughly washed the parchment coffee is dried in the sun on raised beds for 12-18 days, depending on climatic conditions. In the daytime the parchment needs to be raked and turned periodically to ensure a consistent drying process and prevent mold or over-fermentation. The coffee is also covered in the middle of the day to protect it from the hot sun, and at night to protect it from rainfall and condensation. Once the coffee has dried to the right level it is transported to Butembo for dry-milling, grading, sorting and handpicking, before being bagged in GrainPro for export. THE REGION This coffee comes from the northern Kivu area of Isale and is made up of coffees from three different coffee processing sites under a privately ran coffee project called Virunga Coffee; Kahondo, Katanda and Mutendero. The subregion of Isale is located just north of the regional capital of Butembo, on the outskirts of the Virunga National Park. The region has excellent conditions for speciality arabica production with plentiful rainfall, high altitude and highly fertile volcanic soils. The region is also very poverty-stricken and has had a severe lack of infrastructure which has made high quality arabica both difficult to produce and very challenging to export. Virunga Coffee Company has sought to overcome many of these problems through hands-on farmer education and investment in local infrastructure such as roads and bridges. This has allowed quality improvements every season and, in turn, higher premiums for farmers. We recently wrote this blog on the subject. Delicious coffee empowering small scale coffee producers is why we started Palma Coffee, this is an exciting single origin to add to our line up. Only a couple dozen bags available, get yours in our SHOP while it lasts!