Heza (pronounced HEY-za) washing station is built into the face of a cliff, overlooking the Kibira rainforest; the border between Rwanda and Burundi. It was constructed in January of 2014 and was the second washing station built as part of the Long Miles Coffee Project, a family endeavor started by Kristy and Ben Carlson. Long Miles has been built around the concept that coffee can be not only a catalyst for change but also the full realization of change itself, that coffee has the ability to change a landscape and to transform individuals and communities, that by connecting small hills of farming communities in rural Burundi directly with roasters in consuming countries and by highlighting traceability, unique micro-climates, processing techniques, and the power of the human spirit, that a more equitable supply chain can and will emerge. For the past five years, Passenger has purchased the lion’s share of our Burundi coffees from the Long Miles Coffee Project. We are continuously inspired by the spirit of this endeavor and the quality and qualities of the coffees the Long Miles team produces. This lot was grown on Gishubi Hill. The Communes of Burundi are broken up into Collines, which is French for “Hill.” A distinct geopolitical unit, Hills are also how the Long Miles team separates lots. Deliveries are processed each day and kept separated by the Hill from which they were delivered. The Long Miles team has identified distinct cup qualities associated with each Hill. These distinctions are most likely a result of differences in microclimate and elevation. Passenger’s Gishubi selection from the 2020 harvest is composed of 4 day lots that were delivered to the Heza washing station. The coffee was pulped in a McKinnon disc pulper and fermented underwater for 30 hours. After fermentation, the remaining mucilage and pectin are washed off and the coffees are moved to raised drying tables where they dry for an average of 20 days. A moisture meter is used to determine when the coffees should be removed from the beds.