Rwanda Dry Process Karongi Gitesi

Regular price $9.50
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Dynamic fruits and berry notes, with the kind of spiced aroma we often experience in coffees from Rwanda. Blueberry accented sweetness, Karo syrup, dried mango, Medjool date, black tea, bittering whole spices. City to Full City.

Total Score: 90.2
Product Overview
Full Cupping Notes

Gitesi has been a constant in our Rwanda lineup since we first bought it almost two decades ago, but this is the first time we've carried a natural ("dry process"). Compared to their wet process coffees, the brew is brightly fruited with dynamic flavors, and the kind of spiced aroma we often experience in coffees from Rwanda. The fragrance let off a scent of red berries and dried mango, with a touch of maple syrup and five spice. Pouring hot water on the grinds pulled out such an attractive aroma, clean and sweet notes of golden plum, boysenberry, and dark sugars. At City roast level, the cup has dynamic blueberry accented sweetness, with a dark Karo syrup note underneath. The flavors have a tropical hint of dried mango, sticky Medjool date, and a note of dark steeped black tea. The finish is aromatic, with pleasant mouth bittering aspects of tannic black tea, and whole spices, like cardamom pods, and mace. Fruits come through in darker roasts too, with Full City being the point at which they start to fall out of focus. I noted dark chocolate acai, and raspberry filled Ghirardelli bar.

COFFEE DETAILS
process methodDry Process (Natural)
cultivarBourbon Types
farm gateYes
Farm Notes

Origin & Farm Notes

Gitesi is one of our favorite sites in Rwanda. Not only is it located in a beautiful lush valley, but the washing station is always so clean, well-organized and the leaders seemed motivated and competent. When we visited the Gitesi site last year (2024), we saw they had made many improvements to the mill, including installing a new Penagos 1500 pulper. They also started processing naturals and anaerobics, in addition to their fully washed coffees. This is a natural/dry process lot, a first for us from Gitesi! We were quite impressed with the berry character that came through in the cup, and found a fairly bright acidity for dry process coffee. The Gitesi site is at 1740 meters, actually one of the lower areas surrounded by high ridges ranging up to 2000 meters where coffee is grown. When farmers deliver their cherries, it is first floated to remove any unripe coffee that floats to the top. The ripe coffee that sinks is moved to drying beds as Grade 1, while the coffee that floats is processed as a lower grade. It's this kind of quality separation that helps Gitesi consistently produce some of the best quality we see out of Rwanda. More than 1,800 coffee farmers in the area supply Gitesi with cherries each year. The station fosters a relationship with the farmers by paying an additional dividend at the end of each season based on performance. Gitesi was started in 2005 and has been building capacity with each passing harvest.

Specs

Technical Specifications

Key specifications and operating details for this product.

region Karongi
processing Dry Process (Natural)
drying method Raised Bed Sun-Dried
arrival date Jan 2026
lot size 35
bag size 60 KG
packaging GrainPro Liner
farm gate Yes
cultivar detail Bourbon
grade A1
appearance .2 d/300gr, 15-17 Screen
roast recommendations City to Full City
type Farm Gate
recommended espresso No
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