• Beans: Burundi (Busasa Washing Station)
  • Roaster: Brewing Good Coffee Company (Savage, MD)
  • Origin: Burundi (Gashoho, Muyinga)
  • Roast level: Light
  • Roast date: 5/12/2026
  • Process: Washed; Varietals: Bourbon; Altitude: 1600-1800m
  • Purchase date: 6/5/2026 from BGCC in Savage Mill
  • First cup: week of 6/8/2026; last cup: 6/21/2026
  • Tasting notes: Medium bodied, moderate sweetness and acidity, notes of cantaloupe, pomegranate, chocolate, and caramel
• Pour-over with Ode grinder:
  • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
  • Ode: 2+1
  • Water at 100°C
  • Size 2 or 3 V60
  • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover, 60g bloom water and 60g pulses. Finishes around 03:15
  • Doubled recipe with size 3 V60: Add 40g grounds to dripper; bloom with 110-120g water until 0:45; pour to 350g; wait until 01:30; pour remaining 250g; swirl

From the bag:

During their 1916-1962 colonization, Belgium forced coffee production on the people of Burundi as a means of taxation. The farmers’ focus, understandably, was not on quality. Following independence, government-run washing stations were paying farmers so little that coffee was smuggled across borders and sold for higher prices as Rwandan or Tanzanian coffee. As prices have risen and stabilized, Burundi further developed their coffee industry. Busana Coffee Washing Station, est. 2014, pays producers a 20% premium above the local market rate and staff receive wages nearly 60% higher than Burundi’s Average.

This is the first time I have brewed coffee sourced from Burundi. I tried a pour-over when I was at BGCC back in February, but don’t remember much about how it tasted. Similar to other east African coffee, this works well with a fine grind. Compared to coffees I’ve brewed from Tanzania and Ethiopia, the acidity seems to come through a little bit more with this, and the earthy smoothness is more muted. It was a nice complement to the very fruit-forward Colombia batch that I brewed at the same time.