The Gitega Hill’s washing station is located in the Nyamagabe District of the southern province and is located very close to Nyungwe Forest and the traced source of the Nile River. Bernard Uwitije, a native of the area, had been trading non‐washed Ordinary coffee up until 2015, when he realised the potential for fully washed specialty grade coffee. Despite being his first time in processing fully washed coffee, he could count on his overall experience and knowledge when establishing the wet mill. He equipped the station with a 1500kg Penagos machine, fermentation tanks, and raised drying beds. These investments, along with strong oversight, has yielded very high quality parchment in his first full year in operation.

The average farm supplying to Gitega is at an altitude around 1650m, and that high altitude along with the volcanic soil of the area make Gitega an excellent location for high quality processing. One strategic area of collection is called Miko, which is made up of approximately 165 coffee farming families. The Miko farms sit between 1700‐ 1900m and have been consistent with strong yield and higher than average cup scores. Gitega Hills processed a little over 150 tons of cherry for the first year, but the capacity of the station has it positioned for growth in the coming seasons.

Following the pulping of freshly delivered cherry, the coffee is wet fermented and then the beans are sorted by density using water filled grading channels. The wet parchment is dried under cover for 24 hours before being moved to uncovered drying beds for an average of 15 days. During that period the coffee is continually hand sorted by an army of brightly clothed women, who are meticulous in their removal of defect beans.

Rwanda - Gitega Hills 141

Wales’ premier Artisan Coffee Roasters. We offer a selection of the finest ethically sourced arabica beans which we roast in small batches to release the best possible flavour from each one.

Poblado Coffi

Karambi

Ibanda

El Naranjo

Cerro Alto

Finca La Bolsa

Atu Lintang

Banka

Farm: Osias Carrasco, La Palma
Varietal: Costa Rica 95

Osias Carrasco owns 2 hectares of land in the la Palma village in Colasay. Osias grows caturra and Costa Rica 95 at an altitude of 1800 to 1900masl. Once picked Osias washes his coffee and removes all floaters before pulping and fermenting for around 36 hours. The coffee is then dried on lined patios for 10 to 14 days.

La Palma is a village in the district of Colasay and most of the coffee producers in this area have farms between 1700 and 2000masl and grow caturra, costa rica 95 and castillo varieties. The area is fairly remote and isolated, which has meant that very few buyers have worked directly with producers in this area and aggregators have thrived. Despite this, the coffee has a huge amount of potential, due to the growing conditions and varieties, it seems that there is a lot more Costa Rica 95 in this area, which has adapted well and seems to give a very unique, floral profile. Coffee is generally picked and processed by the producers themselves, fermented for 24 to 36 hours and then dried on tarpaulin mats.

Falcon Speciality, our supplier of this coffee, have been working in Northern Peru for several years, buying specialty coffee from cooperatives and associations with whom they have built lasting relationships. In Peru, like some other origins, coffee farmers are sensitive to market changes and often lack basic training and the incentive to produce higher qualities of coffee, as premiums often don’t materialise. For these reasons Falcon decided to change the way they buy coffee in Peru and work directly with producers, allowing them to control and improve upon existing quality and have full financial traceability. Ensuring these two factors would help to pay higher prices for the coffees and to make sure that producers received a fair price for the coffee they delivered, above the market price. In order to do this, they set up a warehouse in Jaen and started to buy in parchment directly from producers. The Cajamarca region holds a lot of potential for quality coffee, with ideal growing conditions and great varieties, but quality is often lost in picking, processing and drying, with producers lacking infrastructure and knowledge. The most vulnerable producers are those who aren’t members of a cooperative, association or organisation – and they represent 75% of producers in Northern Peru. These producers don’t have access to training sessions or premiums for quality or certifications, and their income is totally dependent on the market price. Often, local aggregators – a buyer who lives in the same area – will come to the farm or house of a producer and buy their coffee for cash before selling it on; in some cases, directly to an exporter or more often to other traders and middlemen. This results in the producer being paid very little for their coffee and a lot of quality coffee is lost. This shift in approach to sourcing will allow long term relationships to be formed directly with farmers, improve the coffee quality from these areas and increase producer household income through access to quality premiums

Peru - Osias Carrasco

Poblado House Blend is the fruits of our experimentation with different single origin coffees. The individual components will sometimes change, but the great taste will remain constant. 

Our current offering is a blend of a slightly darker roast Sumatran, with a lighter roast coffee from Guatemala. A great all-rounder which works equally well with/without milk. Ideal for brewing in a cafetière or through a filter.

House Blend

Our Espresso Blend combines the best of  our coffee from Latin America with an injection of some juicy East African beans. The result is a unique full-bodied all-rounder, which works perfectly as a lone pick-me-up, or combines beautifully with milk.

Espresso Blend

Our decaf blend has been sourced from the same ethical supply chain as all our coffee, but the components will change based on what is seasonally available. As ever the beans have been decaffeinated using the Swiss Natural Water Process, helping to preserve the original flavours. The coffee has been roasted slightly darker and can be enjoyed any time of day!

Decaf Blend

Farm: El Filo
Varietal: Caturra, Castillo & Colombia
Location: La Sierrita, Giraldo, Antioquia

Finca El Filo owned by Alfredo De Jesus Lopez sits high in the Andes in the North West of Antioquia. This small 2 Ha farm situated at 2000 masl has a reputation for producing excellent specialty coffees and often stands out on the table.

Alfredo is a member of the Cooperativa de Caficultores del Occidente de Antioquia (COOPENOCC) which supports its members who all mainly work and live on small 1ha farms growing the varietals castillo, colombia and caturra. The cooperative was formed in May 1987 with producers coming together as they were dissatisfied with options for selling and marketing of their coffees. The cooperative has currently 3,414 active Associates and is present in 13 municipalities and 5 townships in the West of Antioquia.

During the harvest Alfredo and the workers on the farm take special care in selecting the ripe cherry before then taking it to the micro beneficiary on the small farm. Here the coffee is then floated and cleaned before being pulped and left to ferment overnight. The coffee is then washed and more immature/floating beans removed before then being placed in a drying tent or a mechanical drying chest depending on the climate and weather.

El Filo

Located near Tingkem in the Regency of Bener Meriah, the farmer group compromises of 400 farmers spread over 450 ha who grow their coffee in the rich and fertile volcanic loam soils which are comprised of a mixture of sand, silt and clay.

This soil type combined with the climate allow for the perfect growing conditions of coffee giving the rich
and full bodied, spicy and smokey coffees associated with the region. The Mandheling coffee represent all Arabica coffee in this area and the name derives from the Mandailing people who produce coffee in the Tapanuli region.

The members of the group receive training on tree management looking at the application of pesticides, pruning and picking ripe cherries to assure the best quality possible. Within this farmers also receive training on conservation of the natural environment looking at measures to prevent soil degradation, erosion and improving soil health. They are also educated on waste management as well as ensuring safe working conditions for themselves. Once picked
the coffee undergoes a 12-hour fermentation process before then being dried for 1-2 days to around 35-40% moisture.

Once the coffee has reached this moisture it is then sent for hulling and then further dried to down to around 15-18%.

From here the coffee is then transported to Medan where it is finally dried down to 13% moisture
content before It is then packed in grain pro lined bags ready for shipping.

Poblado Coffi

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Poblado Coffi

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Coffee Roasts

Banka

Decaf Blend

El Filo

El Naranjo

Espresso Blend

Finca La Bolsa

House Blend

Ibanda

Karambi

Nicaragua - Los Bucaros

Sumatra - Bener Meriah

Coffee archive

Atu Lintang

Cerro Alto

Peru - Osias Carrasco

Rwanda - Gitega Hills 141

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