Musasa washing station lies at 1,526 meters above sea level in the high-altitude hills of the Congo Nile Trail - practically on the banks of Lake Kivu. The Trail features 227 km (141 miles) of beautiful landscapes, including rolling hills and clear water.
1,750 growers deliver to Musasa, around 23% of whom are under the age of 35. Musasa sees these young growers, the youngest of whom is only 20, as the future of Rwandan coffee. Although farm sizes are small, at only around 0.18 hectares on average, farmers receive regular training in organic composting, renovation, harvesting techniques and other agricultural practices that ensure optimal growth for their small farms. The utmost care is taken with quality from the very beginning.
All farmers delivering to Musasa station live within a 15 kilometer radius. After selectively hand-harvesting their coffee, they transport the cherry to the washing station using a variety of means. Cherry is then inspected and hand-sorted to remove any damaged cherries or under-ripe before they are weighed and loaded into the station’s pulper. Farmers receive a payment in line with the quality and quantity delivered.
Musasa uses a Pinhalense eco-pulper, which separates ripe and underripe/underweight cherries again, along with removing any debris remaining with the cherries. This pulper uses one cubic meter of water to process up to 20 tons, significantly reducing the environmental footprint of the washing station.
After pulping, coffee is delivered to the fermentation tanks to ferment for around 24 hours. After this, the coffee is thoroughly washed in clean water and all traces of mucilage are removed from the beans.
Then, coffee is delivered to one of the washing station’s 300 drying tables. Once here, parchment will be turned every 30 minutes initially and covered during the hottest part of the day. Drying usually takes an average of 1 to 2 months, though the time required varies depending on the climate at the time.
