Blue Bottle Releases

Rwanda Nyanza Iwacu

Every year, we cup the latest offerings from the Rwanda Trading Company. This year, the lot from the Iwacu Washing Station was one of our favorites. Its tropical acidity reveals how sweet and effervescent the Bourbon variety can be when processed with meticulous care. The station is located in southern Rwanda, where water is scarce and washing stations are smaller than those in the west of the country. Fortunately, the team expertly harnesses the hard work of its contributing farmers to make beautiful coffee. Water-efficient processing technologies, shipshape bookkeeping, and progressive profit-sharing have helped Iwacu grow four times larger than it was when we first started enjoying its coffees in 2013.