RWANDA NGOMA

Happy to bring this coffee back for the second year in a row!

Ngoma is a newer station in the Baho Coffee lineup that Emmanuel purchased in late 2019. It’s located in the famed Nyamasheke district and set in one of the most stunningly beautiful locations, directly on the shores of Lake Kivu.  780 farmers deliver to this station, which translates to around 575 bags of exportable green coffee each season.

The station was previously independently owned; but counted as their primary client, a major multinational buyer - one who is notorious for paying low prices for parchment coffee and even pressuring the National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB) into lowering the national farmgate price for their own benefit.  This eventually led to the owner of the station deciding to sell.  Rather than see the multinational purchase it, they contacted Emmanuel and chose to sell to Baho instead. 

Emmanuel has big plans for Ngoma, such as focusing on experimental processes and building a guest house on the property.  We were anxiously waiting to try samples last season, as Emmanuel had been talking very highly of the area, the condition of the station, and the quality of coffee from surrounding producers. In fact, a coffee from Ngoma placed in the Cup of Excellence competition many years ago! It’s safe to say that coffee from Ngoma lived up to the hype last season, as they were all consistently complex and bursting with fruits and florals. We’re excited to be purchasing another washed lot from the station this year and look forward to visiting as soon as we’re able to travel again.

As is standard practice for Baho-owned stations - training, inputs, and substantial contributions towards health insurance premiums are provided for all farmers delivering. Each station has an agronomist on site that organizes training sessions focused on topics such as coffee plant care (fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, etc), importance of our traceability efforts, and environmental protection. Various inputs like fertilizers and new coffee seedlings are provided free of cost to all farmers. Baho is involved a step further here as well - helping farmers with transportation to gather materials and lending tools/equipment when necessary.

FLAVOR NOTES
Kiwi, Strawberry, Guava, Milk Chocolate

PRODUCER
Augustin Ndateba

REGION
Bushekeri Sector, Nyamasheke District, Western Province

VARIETY
Bourbon

PROCESS
Low Oxygen Natural

ALTITUDE
1500 - 1850 masl