Women’s contributions in coffee have been overlooked, underrepresented, and sorely underpaid throughout history – but more and more cooperatives are providing women with the support and governance they need. And we’re so grateful for that and the incredible coffees being produced by women in Rwanda right now! This double fermentation Bourbon variety comes from the Rugori project, a name inspired by the urugori crown given to women after their first child – a mark of respect and pride. With farms across the Western Province, the Gasharu is situated at 1670masl; their anaerobic experiments have led them to create this multi-layered coffee with high sweetness, acidity, and an elegant body. First pulped and fermented for 12 hours in a tank, the beans are then washed and fermented anaerobically for a further 8 hours. In the cups it’s very sweet with notes of tomato consommé and cherry. The Gasharu washing station is located near the Rwanda Congo Nile Mountain Chain and is one of the two washing stations from Gasharu Coffee. They work with 1650 smallholders from the area, growing Bourbon on farms at altitudes that range from 1580 to 2100 masl. This is the second year that we have coffee from Gasharu and we are constantly surprised by the quality and complexity of flavours they produce. Valentin Kimenyi manges Gasharu today after taking over the farm, which began in 1976 when Valentins’ father - Celestin Rumenerangabo planted his first coffee trees at the age of 17. Over the years he built Gasharu into what it is today, setting a great foundation for Valentin to build on.