The hillsides of Rulindo in Northern Province, Rwanda have ideal coffee growing conditions and, since 2012 have supported an abundance of small coffee farmers.

The farmers work in partnership with Kinini Washing Station, owned by Malcolm Clear and Jaqueline Turner who set up Kinini as a way for the community to grow and export coffee.

Part of the money earned through this export goes to A New Beginning, an NGO set up by Malcolm and Jaqueline in 2008 to support widows and orphans displaced by the 1994 genocide. Here, it funds community projects such as building new schools and healthcare.

After investing time and money in coffee seedlings, and local infrastructure, Kinini were given a contribution from DR Wakefield at their Full Circle event, hosted at Extract Coffee Roasters. Using this money, they have gone on to build a cupping lab attached to the drying beds and wet mill.

Kinini uses satellite technology to monitor leaf glare from the trees to give farmers the advantage of early detection of disease or pests which could damage their crop. Early interventions protect the farmers’ yield and maintain the coffee’s exceptional quality.

Coffee cherries are picked and brought to the Kinini washing station each day where they are separated from the other lots and processed.

Changeable and inconsistent weather patterns at such high attitudes (the higher plots are 2500m above sea level) means this region has an extended cropping period starting from late March or April and running right through to December. This particular lot is a late-harvest, picked in June-October.

Cherries are dried on raised beds for 48 days. Regular turning avoids over-fermentation and ensures the coffee dries evenly. 2019 is the first year Kinini has produced natural-processed lots, and they are delicious. Intensely sweet and fruity with the flavour of dried mango, demerara sugar and bourbon biscuits!

A delicious filter coffee. Best enjoyed black where those tropical fruit notes can sing.

FARM: Kinini Washing Station
OWNER: 633 smallholders
ORIGIN: Northern Province, Rulindo, Rwanda

Kinini

One simple mission. Make Coffee Better. Better for farmers, better for roasters, better for baristas, better for drinkers. We travel the world sourcing the best coffee. It’s an unending endeavour and one we love.

Kinini

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Kinini