Kinini Village
A sticky, syrupy mouthfeel is the star of the show here! Complex sweetness and acidity come forward as this coffee cools, starting off with fresh citrus like lemon and grapefruit and developing into tropical fruit notes like kiwi and mango. This coffee is SWEET, that citric acidity and syrupy mouthfeel with a hint of vanilla on the finish makes us think of a homemade cola.
A sticky, syrupy mouthfeel is the star of the show here! Complex sweetness and acidity come forward as this coffee cools, starting off with fresh citrus like lemon and grapefruit and developing into tropical fruit notes like kiwi and mango. This coffee is SWEET, that citric acidity and syrupy mouthfeel with a hint of vanilla on the finish makes us think of a homemade cola.
A sticky, syrupy mouthfeel is the star of the show here! Complex sweetness and acidity come forward as this coffee cools, starting off with fresh citrus like lemon and grapefruit and developing into tropical fruit notes like kiwi and mango. This coffee is SWEET, that citric acidity and syrupy mouthfeel with a hint of vanilla on the finish makes us think of a homemade cola.
CUPPING NOTES
Very sweet, citric acidity like lemon and grapefruit when hot, tropical fruit like kiwi and mango when cool on the finish. Sticky, syrupy mouthfeel, medium body. Vanilla, cola.
MORE ABOUT THIS COFFEE
‘Kinini’ means, literally, ‘this big thing right here’. It is the name of the collaboration of cooperatives seeking to pool their efforts to improve their lots. Kinini is also the name of a washing station and cooperative located in Kinini town, which collects from the neighboring villages of Tumba and Mageragere.
Dreamers. That’s what everyone called Jacquie Turner and Malcolm Clear when they wanted to start a school for children in Eastern Rwanda 10 years ago. Driven by the desire to help the children of the genocide, they made that dream a reality. As they got to know that community they realized that these children needed much more than just education, and consequently, they lobbied the local government and international donors to support the construction of a local pharmacy, micro-finance credit institution, and other services to support the community that supports these children. What these two have accomplished for that community would be more than enough for any of us to hang our hat on and rest on our laurels, but they were not satisfied. Jacquie wanted to do more to help her fellow Rwandans.
So she and Malcolm started dreaming again. This time they dream of possibilities in coffee. They wanted to find a way to have generational impact on communities without having to continually fundraise money for aid projects. At this time they didn’t know anything about coffee, but they knew that the Rwandan government was supporting a transition towards specialty coffee. Malcolm and Jacquie wanted to see how far they could leverage that goodwill towards helping a community. They spent years soliciting advice from experts across the coffee industry and traveled all over Rwanda to look for a community that was interested in such a venture and was conducive for growing good coffee. After countless hours walking around farms with agronomists and soil-scientists, they settled on an area just an hour north of Kigali. This spot is not only stunning for its views, but its high elevation that dwarfs even the well-known Lake Kivu region. There was only one issue: not a lot of coffee was being grown there. So they dreamt up a solution. What if… they gave farmers coffee to grow? What if… they gave farmers technical support on how to grow good coffee? What if…they gave farmers a washing station to process it? What if…they gave farmers a dry mill to further process it? What if…they set up an export company in Rwanda to sell it, and an import company in the UK to own it even further? What if…10% of the profits went directly to development project investments (in education, health, etc.) What if…they helped organize these farmers so that they could manage themselves and eventually the business without them? What if… It was a lot of dreaming, that was met with a lot of doors being slammed in their face. Set-backs that would deter the most resilient of us did nothing to dissuade these two from their goal. After years of lobbying the local government, the Development Bank of Rwanda, farmers themselves, and countless other parties, their project was finally green-lit in 2014. (Crop to Cup)
GROWER
Kinini Village Cooperative - 48 members
ELEVATION
1,800 - 2,200 Meters
VARIETY
Bourbon
PROCESSING
Natural
50¢ from the sale of all coffee bags go to Angels’ Place - A Pittsburgh based non-profit that cares for the children of single parents who qualify as low-income. This enables the parent to continue their own education or career, benefiting both generations.
SHIPPING: We ship orders on Tuesdays and Fridays. Order cutoff is 12pm the day PRIOR to the ship day. We do our best to ship your coffee within two days of roasting it. If you ever feel your coffee is not fresh enough, just let us know and we’ll replace it.
Domestic shipping is free for orders of $50 or more. Otherwise, it is a $7.50 flat rate anywhere in the US. We ship everything via UPS Ground.
NOTES ON GRINDING: If you choose “French Press” grind, expect it to be finer than usual, so you’re guaranteed good extraction. Some ultra fine coffee particles will make it through the screen and create a flavorful, albeit slightly opaque cup. In other words, we choose flavor over aesthetics. If you want to keep your cup looking cleaner, choose a pour over grind.
If you don’t see your preferred grind in the options then simply let us know in the notes section at checkout and we’d be happy to grind it for your favorite brewing method.
