Thumbnail Filmstrip of Rwanda Dukunde Kawa Fair Trade Images
About Rwanda Dukunde Kawa Fair Trade
Arrived June 2014 is grainpro bags. We were struck by the clean and succulent character of this Fair Trade coffee from central Rwanda. The Fair Trade USA site has the following information on the cooperative itself and its impact:
"Founded in 2000, The Dukunde Kawa Cooperative (Musasa) cultivates its high-quality coffee near a mountain gorilla habitat in central Rwanda. By producing high-end coffee for the international market and employing a majority female workforce, the cooperative ensures maximum benefits to local families. In 2003, the co-op built a washing station with funds provided by the Rwandan ministry of defense. In exchange for this support, the Dukunde Kawa cooperative donates 10 percent of its net profits annually to fund the construction of other washing stations throughout Rwanda.
Fair Trade Certified since 2004, Dukunde Kawa secures a high standard of living for Rwandan farmers by ensuring access to an economically and environmentally sustainable coffee industry. Eighty percent of Dukunde's producers are women." And, in an area where there are few motor vehicles to assist small farmers who need to quickly get their cherry to the wetmill in a timely fashion, "Dukunde Kawa purchased 10 bicycles for each of Dukunde�s production zones, easing the transportation of coffee cherries to the central station."
Coffee Review has called this coffee "delicately lush"
Cup Characteristics: Sweet and fleshy, succulent, sugary. Broad, smooth, velvety mouthfeel with notes of tropical fruit and citrus. Dutch cocoa comes to mind as the coffee plays on the palate.
Roasting Notes: These are hard, dense, high grown Bourbon beans which can be roasted anywhere from the very light to dark. If you pull this roast before but close to second crack, the mouthfeel will be chocolatey smooth, perhaps the optimum roast level for this coffee from a native flavor perspective.