Django's Jazz (40hr Anaerobic): Light Roast (SO)

Django Reinhardt was one of the most influential jazz musicians, and guitarists, as he helped redefine a sound. And he made some of the catchiest tunes in the process (his catalogue of work is incredible). 

Django, along with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. 

In 1928, Django narrowly escaped death in a fire that left his left fretting hand badly burned, fusing his pinky to the finger beside it and permanently curling both in.

He had to find new ways to fret chords. At the time, popular guitarists weren't yet experimenting with chord extensions, which add a colourful tone to music.

Because of his fused fingers, Django could no longer play conventional chord shapes, but was able to play variants. Those modified chords gave his playing an identifiable sound that was ahead of its time harmonically. He was a true innovator and pioneer, and his disability played an important part in influencing the evolution of his style, as it provided him with a unique perspective and a need to adapt. 

And much like his music, this coffee is an exciting yet comforting experience. This 40hr natural anaerobic coffee is grown by a small group of 9 smallholder farmers.

Natural Anaerobic coffees tend to be more unusual, sweet and "funky". This one is a great coffee for those trying an experimental coffee for the first time, or for those looking for an anaerobic coffee they can easily drink every morning, as it's not too funky.  

ORIGIN + VARIETY: SINGLE ORIGIN - Rwanda + Red Bourbon
TASTING NOTES: Berries + funky chocolate finish
ROAST: Light
PRODUCERS: Baho Coffee
FARM: Nine smallholder farms working together (average farm size 0.56 hectares). Names below! 
REGION: Remera Sector, Gatsibo District, Eastern Province
ALTITUDE: 1550-1835masl
PROCESS: Natural Anaerobic - 40 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 Remera Hill Group:
The following are the 9 farmers from Remera hill that contributed to this lot:

Nahason Rukara
Boniface Ahorukomeye
Gaspard Bazatsinda
Emmanuel Benda
Claver Bihoyiki
Julia Cyurinyana
Damascene Gakwandi
Damien Sibaniro
Gilbert Sindayigaya

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 40 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!