Kilimbi (sold out)

We’re super excited that it’s time for the Sholi top lot again! We recently visited this Co-op with our head of coffee, our training manager and our roastery manager last year, scroll for pictures of their visit.Abatraninkunga ba Sholi cooperative are based in the Muhanga region of central Rwanda. They formed in 2008 as a small association by 30 women farmers. It is now an autonomous cooperative boasting 2000 members.Caravan started working with this group in 2020. We buy both washed and natural processes from Sholi for our core blends, but this lot is a bit more special. Each year Caravan and Sholi hold a competition among the coop members. Natural processed coffees from the group that score 87+ on the sca scoring system are entered into the competition and cupped by both the Sholi quality team and the quality team at Caravan. The highest scoring coffees are then put into a blend, this blend. The farmers that have produced these lots are awarded with a secondary payment, and as suggested by the producers, each of the winners receives a goat (both incentives paid for by Caravan). It’s always a really exciting time at the roastery when the Sholi Top Lot arrives and we’re ecstatic to share with you.

Another coffee from our friends at Raw Material. Gito means tiny in Kinyarwanda. Traditionally beans this small would not be exported and sold only in the internal market. Not convinced that smaller beans mean lower quality, RM and Kilimbi washing station isolated these small beans, sorted them by density and cupped. As they suspected the coffee tasted great and now the producers can get a better price for this part of their crop. Farmers deliver their cherry to Kilimbi by boat which is the only way to access this station which sits on Lake Kivu the Great Lake that lies on the border between Rwanda and Democratic republic of Congo.

We’re super excited to present two coffees of the same varietal, grown on neighbouring farms, processed two different ways and named after the sisters who grow them. Ana is the washed, and tasting it alongside Martha, the natural, is a great way to explore the difference processing makes. Both farms sit in northern Nicaragua near the Honduran border, where altitude, a cool climate and volcanic soil produce the country’s finest coffee. Ana and Martha left in the 70s, returning after inheriting their father’s farms in 2013 to open a mill and export business, with 7 staff and 60 more at harvest. Finca Las Hortensias has been in the Alvir family for over fifty years, and Ana runs it on agroforestry principles, with coffee shaded by forest, banana and fruit trees. Maracaturra, a Maragogype × Caturra cross, pairs Maragogype’s quality with better yield and rust resistance.

We’re super excited to present two coffees of the same varietal, grown on neighbouring farms, processed two different ways and named after the sisters who grow them. Martha is the natural, and tasting it alongside Ana, the washed, is a great way to explore the difference processing makes. Both farms sit in northern Nicaragua near the Honduran border, where altitude, a cool climate and volcanic soil produce the country’s finest coffee. Martha and Ana left in the 70s, returning after inheriting their father’s farms in 2013 to open a mill and export business, with 7 staff and 60 more at harvest. Martha has run Finca Bethania since 1991, growing coffee under forest shade with banana and fruit trees. Maracaturra, a Maragogype × Caturra cross, pairs Maragogype’s quality with better yield and rust resistance.