Burundi Ngozi Turihamwe
Bold Profile | Medium-dark roast
Tasting Notes: Baking Spices, Brown Sugar, Milk Chocolate
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
This coffee comes from a small women-owned producer group in Ngozi, where these seven entrepreneurs worked in coffee farming and earned premiums from producer and exporter group JNP Coffee (also women-owned) as part of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) Premium Program. The women pooled their savings to produce their first harvest and purchase a wet mill to process their coffees, and named their investment group Turihamwe, which means "together" in Kirundi.
These women didn't just open a wet mill - they opened the first wet mill owned and operated by women coffee farmers in the entire nation of Burundi. As JNP shared, "[They] recognized they could earn and save even more if they could process their cherries at their own washing station. So they pooled together $60,000 to build their own wet mill. By processing and selling their own coffee, they will generate more income for their families and community, and inspire others to find new paths to better lives." For these seven women, and thousands like them, earning premiums for specialty coffee provides financial stability so that they may support themselves, their families, and reinvest in their communities.
With the help of JNP Coffee, the IWCA, and Burundi Friends International, these coffee producers are able to participate in classes that teach financial literacy, leadership skills, and English. Such resources help these producers to develop and grow their coffee production, improve their homes and farms, pay for children's education, build savings, and invest their money overall. Rooted in strong producer partnerships, these efforts empower the farmers and their families to build resilience and expand their coffee production capacity.
Through their continued success, the members of Turihamwe hope to increase their coffee production to over 1,200 bags annually within the next few years.
TRACEABILITY
PRODUCER
Turihamwe Turashobora Producer Group
MILL / WASHING STATION
Turihamwe wet mill
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1750 meters
DID YOU KNOW
Ngozi stands for "blessing" in the Kirundi language. Also known as Rundi, it is a Bantu language spoken by some 9 million people in Burundi.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$4.95
Price paid by Driftaway
$
Free on Board price
Not available
Farm Gate price
$2.04
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.84
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 7,068 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Queens.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THIS COFFEE?
It's been important for us at Driftaway to prioritize women farmers as we search the world for delicious coffees. Women make up 70% of the workforce in coffee, yet systematically have lower access to resources like land, credit and just plain information.
Working with our importer partner Janine from JNP coffee, we can see the time she's spent building relationships and trust with these farmers. One of JNP's renowned initiatives is the Dushime® program, or their Second Payment Day. The JNP Coffee team visits the farmers before each harvest, providing cash incentives based on the previous harvest's quality and the global market response. The second payment serves as a significant motivator, encouraging farmers to prioritize quality control. Janine and JNP have recently achieved a milestone of collectively paying half a million dollars in second payments since inception. Additionally, most of these farmers received financial literacy education and leadership skill training. Rooted in strong producer partnerships, these efforts empower the farmers and their families to build resilience and expand their coffee production capacity.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
86.25
/100
86.25
SCAA Cupping Score
15 x 60 k
Bags purchased
1 year
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2022)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from January 28 to February 21 in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week at our roastery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each cupping is conducted by James M. and Ian T. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Anthony and Torie, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.
