**NEW** BURUNDI Masha

This week’s coffee comes to us from the Masha washing station in Kayanza, Burundi. Most of Burundi's coffee is produced in the highlands of Kayanza. Located in northern Burundi along the border of Rwanda,small producers typically harvest and take cherries to community delivery sites that are all processed together at wet mills. Masha washing station in Kayanza Burundi accepts coffee from over 3200 local farmers. Each producer has only 297 trees on average on roughly .11 hectares of land. These small-holder farmers are reliant upon coffee for their livelihood. Harvest here is typically April through June, but coffees have a long journey to export from this landlocked country. Masha washing station shares its name with the sub-hill upon which it stands and is actually more famous for its cattle than its coffee. The name Masha is derived from the Kirundi word “amasho” meaning “herds of cattle”. Apart from cows and coffee, the hill on which the station is found, Gihororo, is named after the Imihororo trees from which the locals weave traditional clothing making this region truly abundant in precious resources to its people.
While not earth-shattering in its forward facing notes, we find this coffee to be expressive in its subtlety. Calm and sweet with a touch of tartness-to-acidity, its mellow nature makes it a perfect first cup of the day. Look for notes of peach cream and tart gooseberries.