Burundi,Hafi - Natural

This coffee was at the far end of the cupping table, as far from the familiar coffee flavours as possible. The remotest of the remote! That's often where you find the prize.

In the hills of Muyinga Province, the farmers of Hafi coffee would face more than a day's journey if they tried to deliver their freshly harvestedcoffees to the nearest wet mill. For years, farmers here had to trek over 20 kilometres just to find a washing station. We're talking muddy roads, steep hills, and baskets of cherries on their heads. It was exhausting. It was even difficult for JNP Coffee to visit them as it's a six-hour journey from Bujumbura if the roads aren't washed out. 

Jeanine, the owner of JNP found that these farmers, so far from any washing station, had become masters of the natural process. They had developed a 24- to 48-hour anaerobic process by cutting off oxygen from the coffee cherries before air drying them on raised beds. This controlled fermentation adds a jamminess to the coffee as well as other wonderfully complex, multi-layered flavors. Named for the farmers' desire for a washing station close by, Hafi means "near" in Kirundi. 

Because of the remoteness, until this year, all Hafi coffees were naturally processed. Not anymore. Together, JNP and the community-led Hafi Co-op built a washing station right next to the farms. Suddenly, farmers could process their cherries the same day they were picked — preserving sweetness, boosting cup quality, and cutting out backbreaking labor.