Karenge is a small sector in the Eastern province of Rwanda, a Central/Eastern African country, also known as the ‘land of a thousand hills’ for its stunning scenery. Karenge is located just 30 kilometres outside of Kigali – the country’s capital city.
Coffee production only began in Rwanda in the middle of the 20th century, but in this short time they’ve managed to nearly perfect the art, producing countless beautiful single-origin coffees, from regions including Kivu, Muhazi, and of course Karenge.
While the sector of Karenge may be small, there is nothing small about the flavours of their coffee.
Karenge coffee is full of flavour, with beautiful notes of black tea, vanilla, spice and red apple. It’s a fairly full, heavy-bodied coffee with a rounded acidity, and finishing fruity and chocolate notes. With a cupping score of 85.75, you can always expect a high-quality cup of coffee from these beans.
The name “Karenge” means “small footprint” in Kinyarwandan, Rwanda’s official language. This is quite fitting, as the coffee produced in Karenge is from smallholder farms.
A cooperative of about 100 farmers grow and harvest Karengen coffee plants through socially and environmentally sustainable coffee farming practices. All the farmers are enrolled in UTZ, a program for sustainable farming, as well as fairtrade and certification programs to enhance production processes.
The coffee is grown between 1400 and 1700 metres above sea level, allowing the plants to develop slowly, increasing the amount of sugars in the coffee cherries resulting in an intensely sweet flavour.
This bourbon variety coffee is processed using the natural (AKA unwashed) processing method. This method entails drying the cherries on raised sunbeds for 15 days and rotating them daily to ensure even drying.
Luckily, we’ve been able to source some of these beautiful Karenge coffee beans as one of our May monthly singles. Buy some while you can from our Rwandan Karenge product page
