BURUNDI INYAMBO | July 2023

INYAMBO FROM BURUNDI

Inyambo coffee comes from the Nzove washing station in the Ngozi Province. Nzove originates from the name “inzovu”, Kirundi for elephant, as the land was once home to an abundance of elephant herds.

This light-bodied coffee delivers flavours of peach and cranberry with a cherry chocolate finish.

COFFEE ORIGIN PROFILE

Inyambo is named for the royal cows of Burundi. These majestic beasts are instantly recognisable by the graceful arch of their long horns which curve up in the shape of a lyre, extending up to eight feet from tip to tip. The Inyambo are revered in Burundi culture and serve as a symbol for collaboration and togetherness. They are involved in ceremony, celebrated in song and dance.

These red bourbon coffee beans have been gathered from small lot farmers and processed at the Nzove Washing station. The Ngozi province where they are grown is magnificently fertile, and the farmers’ coffee harvest is just part of their production. The washing station is a government initiative which also serves as an education and resource centre for local farmers looking to improve the quality and sustainability of their produce.

TASTING NOTES

This Burundi bean is our highest scoring Bean of the Month in over a year: the Inyambo comes in at a whopping 88.25, which places it in the Excellent Specialty range. There’s a little of the floral in the fragrance – a hint of coffee blossom – but from there on in this coffee is giving sweet cherry pie. It starts with the aromatics of warm baked piecrust. This is soon overtaken by the flavours of peach, cranberry, cherry and chocolate.

The body is light and silky, buoyed by a crisp red apple acidity, and the aftertaste is pure Cherry Ripe.

BREW RECOMMENDATIONS

This one goes out to the year-round iced coffee devotees, the ones who would order cold brew in the Antarctic. Burundi Inyambo is an astonishing cold drip. It’s rich and jammy, all the fruit flavours reduced down to a bright sweet syrupy shot that has to be tasted to be believed. An all time great.

If you prefer things on the cosy side, don’t fret, like all great coffees the Burundi Inyambo has got the range! The chocolate comes forward when brewed as an espresso, matching the sweetness of the cherry pie. And adding milk is basically like a side of cream. A perfect combination.

Through a filter brewer, the bright peaches and cranberries come to play, sitting up fresh and clean in the rich red fruit brew. If you’re going for an immersion technique like Aeropress, try adding a little extra water to your brew once it’s extracted – it will dilute it down, but you get some beautiful clarity as a result.

COFFEE CUPPING DETAILS

SCORE: 88/100

AROMA: coffee blossom, baked crust

FLAVOUR: cherry pie, chocolate, peach, cranberry

ACIDITY: crisp red apple

BODY: light

AFTERTASTE: chocolate, cherry.

OVERVIEW

Country: Burundi, Central Africa

Region: Ngozi Province, Burundi

Mill: Nzove Washing Station

Varietals: red bourbon

Process: washed

Altitude: 1531m above seal level.