Queen of Motown (72hr Anaerobic): Light Roast (SO)

Mary Wells helped define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960's and was a pioneer in helping to bring more black artists onto radio stations and the record shelves of mainstream America.

Wells, from Detroit, contracted spinal meningitis at the age of two and experienced partial blindness, deafness and temporary paralysis throughout her adolescents. Wells used singing as a comfort to her pain and by 10 had graduated from church choirs to performing at Detroit nightclubs. 

In the early 1960's, Wells teamed up with Smokey Robinson, which led to a succession of hit singles. The success of her hit, "You Beat Me to the Punch" helped make Wells the first Motown star to be nominated for a Grammy Award in 1963. 

Throat cancer would  rob Wells of her voice in 1990, and tragically cut her life short two years later. She was the Queen of Motown. 

Much like Wells, this coffee has a lot of soul and love behind it. Natural Anaerobic coffees tend to be more unusual, sweet and "funky". And they require a lot of care to get right at origin. 

During the process, cherries are placed in sealed, oxygen depleted barrels for up to 72 hours to let the magic happen! 

ORIGIN + VARIETY: SINGLE ORIGIN - Rwanda + Red Bourbon
TASTING NOTES: Chocolate covered tart cherries 
ROAST: Light
PRODUCERS: Baho Coffee
FARM: Five smallholder farms working together (average farm size 0.12 hectares). Names below! 
REGION: Bushekeri Sector, Nyamasheke District, Western Province
ALTITUDE: 11535-1900 masl
PROCESS: Natural Anaerobic - 72 hour low oxygen whole cherry ferment in sealed clay vessels. 

SIZE: 125g, 227g and 340g bags

GRIND: whole bean, filter, espresso/moka pot, French press 

Introducing the Ngoma Urubyiruko Group:
The following are the 5 farmers involved in this group:

Seith Byiringiro
Vianney Bahigasenga
Damascene Bizimungu
Eugene Semasuka
Rosine Niyogisubizo

More about the Natural Anaerobic processing method:

Always driven towards experimentation of Rwandese coffee, our partners in Rwanda are keen to try and perfect various processing methods. 

First, a day of intensive sorting at the cherry stage, under complete shade, to ensure only the ripest are chosen and any visible defects are removed.

Step two is multiple rounds of floating - filling a large container with cherries and water, discarding the less dense cherries that float to the top of the tank. The densest coffees (sinkers) are reserved to be processed as the higher grade lots, and the less dense coffees (floaters) are mixed in with the rejected cherries from the initial sorting to be processed as lower grade lots.

It’s expected that cherries are delivered to stations, on average, between 2 to 3 hours from picking. The top quality cherries are tightly packed into sealed vessels where they are left to ferment, undisturbed and under shade, for 72 hours. 

The goal here is to create a unique environment in which the cherries have very
limited interaction with oxygen.

The low oxygen environment drastically change the flavours imparted into the seed. The natural anaerobic fermentation promotes high intensity and complexity of fruit flavours and sweetness in the coffee. The 40 hour anaerobic fermentation results in a more balanced experimental coffee that isn't overly funky. 

Once this fermentation period is complete, the cherries are immediately turned out onto drying beds. The goal is for cherries to be a single layer on the beds, maximum 2 - 4 cm of depth. For the first 5 days, the coffee is turned every hour. From day 5 to day 20, coffee is turned every 2 hours. From day 20 - 50, the coffee and ambient temperature are strictly monitored to keep the rate of drying slow and controlled.

Temperature is recorded throughout the day - if it exceeds certain thresholds, workers will focus on turning coffee more frequently or cover the beds with mesh netting. In more rare cases, if the temperature exceeds extremely high thresholds, entire beds will sometimes be relocated under complete shade for a few days. This focus on extremely thin layers, coupled with frequent turning and temperature monitoring, is to ensure that the flavours remain clean and free from over-fermentation or mold defects.

When the moisture content reaches 11.0%, the drying phase is considered complete. The dried cherry is bagged and stored in a dry warehouse until time for milling. Total drying times for this coffee is between 50 - 55 days.

More about Baho Coffee (who oversees the washing stations, and directly supports the farrmers, we source from in Rwanda):

“Baho’s vision on community is guided by having a synergetic relationship with the
community of farmers that we work with, where we guide them and create solutions
in a replicable, sustainable and scalable manner leading to economic growth and
poverty reduction. Our overall vision is implied by the meaning of our name, Baho,
which in our local language means live/life. It is like a tree that grows up and has
branches, flowers and fruits and still keeps its roots in the ground. Baho is born,
grows up and sells coffee both locally and internationally and never forgets the
origin.”
- Emmanuel Rusatira, Owner Baho Coffee

It's hard not to be inspired by Emmanuel's genuine curiosity and passion for quality coffee and experimentation. At a handful of his washing stations he is not only producing extremely clean natural processed coffees, but also pushing the experimental boundaries of the fermentation process (all very rare for Rwanda!).

Furthermore, Emmanuel is impressively proactive with education and outreach. He works closely with producers year round, and ensures they paid well above the national average of Rwanda, in addition to the bonuses paid to farmers in order to circumvent limits imposed by the government. We are so proud to be in business with Emmanuel and call him a friend. 

Brewing Tips: 

• ICED COFFEE: Perfect as a funky pour over flash freeze brew. Use large cocktail ice, lower your brewing ratios and then prepare as you usually would (with the option of adding a bit less water)! And if not wanting to add too much ice while brewing, try adding whiskey stones after brewing to not further dilute it.

Thank you as always to our partners at www.Semilla.com for a lot of the information and images contained on this page!