Rwanda Nyamasheke Nyungwe

The dry fragrance of Nyungwe showed complex sweetness, our City roast brought out a scent of ginger snap cookies, with black tea, and fragrant spices. The wet aroma was accented by a very nice floral note, with honey, butterscotch, and chamomile tea. My preferred roasts for brewing were in the City-City+ range, where the cup showed an interplay of sweetness, vivid bright tones, and some of that spiced aroma we've come to expect from Rwanda (and Burundi, for that matter). The cup sweetness has a floral aspect, like aromatic butterscotch and sugar cane juice, balancing out any bittering notes from roast. After cooling a bit, the profile opens up to hints of black tea, all spice, vanilla, and lightly bittering citrus accent that brought to mind kumquat. City+ had a touch more dark fruit flavors, as well as a sweet-spiced accent of Dr. Pepper soda. Full City is not off limits, but I think better suited for espresso. I only tried a shot 24 hours off roasts, but still rewarded with thick bittersweetness, buoyant body, and some dark fruit notes of grape, and prune.