Uganda Bugoye Muramba

This coffee is a from a washing station in Bugoye town, part of the Rwenzori mountain range in Western Uganda. The station was built a few years back as part of a quality focused effort aimed at building smaller lots that focus on regional distinction. This is more challenging than you might think. Historically, Uganda was a supplier of large commercial blends, where volume, not quality, was the main objective. In contrast, these stations offer a competitive price as well as assistance to attract local farmers to deliver their cherry where it is centrally processed and separated into standardized grades. The Bugoye site sits at around 1200 meters above sea level, and while you see coffee growing in the area, most of it comes from the hills above between 1500 to 1800 meters. It's quite rural, and the higher hillside farms lack roads, leaving farmers to transport their harvest by donkey on foot. Farmers grow a mix of varieties, with SL-28 being quite common, along with SL-14, Costa Rica 95 and Catuaí (many are supplied by the owners of the washing station). After pulping the coffee, it is typically fermented for around 12 hours to break down the mucilage, which is then washed away with water in cement channels. The coffee dries on raised beds for around 12 days, and is finished in a mechanical dryer.