Burundi Coffee Beans

Burundi is a small, landlocked country in East Africa that produces coffee almost exclusively on smallholder plots, with the vast majority of processing handled by centralised washing stations. This structure is shared with neighbouring Rwanda, and the two countries produce coffees that sit in a similar register: high altitude, typically between 1,400 and 2,000 metres above the shores of Lake Tanganyika and across the Congo-Nile ridge, with well-organised wet processing that produces clean, fruit-forward, and consistently structured cups. Bourbon is the dominant varietal, brought to the region by Belgian missionaries in the early 20th century and well-adapted to the altitude and climate.

Burundian specialty coffee at its best is bright, sweet, and complex: red fruit, stone fruit, and citrus are common, with a clean, tea-like quality in the best washed lots that makes it a natural fit for filter brewing. The country's washing stations, many of them run as cooperatives, have been a focus for quality improvement over the past decade, and the best lots now regularly achieve specialty scores that put them alongside the more celebrated East African origins. Burundi remains less well-known on the international market than Ethiopia, Kenya, or Rwanda, which tends to keep prices reasonable relative to cup quality. Any lots we are currently roasting will appear below.

Browse: African coffees · Bourbon · All single origins