Burundi Yandaro - Kayanza

Yandaro Washing Station is a centralized coffee processing station situated in the Kayanza province in Burundi, which was established in 1986 and services around 3193 small farmers. The farmers here have roughly 360 trees on less than half a hectare of land, on average, and in addition to growing coffee, they also grow crops like bananas and beans. Ripe cherries are pulped, then immediately placed on raised beds for drying. Regular turning intervals create a honey most similar to the classic Costa Rican honey process. Subtle red fruits and noticeably elevated levels of sweetness in the cup are the most common characteristics of these high-class coffee beans.

Due to the small size and yield on the average coffee farm or plot, washing stations are the primary point of processing and purchase in Burundi. Unlike other coffee-growing regions in Central and South America where landholdings are slightly larger and coffee-centric resources are more available, most producers in Burundi do not have space on their property or the financial means to do their wet or dry-milling. Instead, the majority of growers deliver cherry to a facility that does sorting, blending, and post-harvest processing of day lots to create different offerings.

In Burundi almost every coffee harvest is a microlot by default - small farmers, who own less than one hectare of land, sell their coffee to the local washing stations for processing. Instead of bearing the names of the farmers, the coffees are grouped and named after the washing stations, such as Gakove, Butezi or Gatare from the Kyanza region.

The quality of the coffee is strictly dependent on the attention to detail - sorting, fermentation and washing processes are carefully monitored. The processing is reminiscent of the one used in Kenyan coffees: dry fermentation, followed by washing with mountain water before the beans are slowly dried on raised African beds. The result is a clean, crips and complex profile - typical for the best African coffee varieties.

Most of Burundi's coffee is produced in the highlands of Kayanza. Located in northern Burundi along the border of Rwanda, small producers typically harvest and take cherries to community delivery sites that are all processed together at wet mills.

Honeys in Burundi are a rarity, but washing stations lately have been experimenting with this process and it has yielded great results.
Ripe cherries are pulped, then immediately placed on raised beds for drying. Regular turning intervals create a honey most similar to the classic Costa Rican honey process.

Bourbon is related to the Typica variety, which is a result of a natural mutation of generic Typica varieties, that were cultivated in the Yemeni region and grown into Île Bourbon (now called Réunion Island).