Rwanda Gakenke Honey Coffee

A honey-process coffee from Gakenke in northern Rwanda. Part of the sticky fruit layer stays on the bean as it dries, which adds caramel sweetness to red-berry and apricot brightness.

Origin & Story

Gakenke is in Rwanda's Northern Province, near the volcanic slopes of the Virunga mountains, and its coffee grows at about 1,700 to 2,000 meters, close to the upper limit for coffee. Importers say that altitude shows in a lively acidity and bright fruit.

It is also a place where cooperatives matter. Smallholders in Gakenke deliver to cooperative washing mills, which give members access to clean, efficient processing so that the quality they have grown into the cherry survives into the bean.

For a honey coffee the cherry is pulped but some of the sweet mucilage is left on the seed, which then goes straight to raised beds to dry without being washed. It is a newer style in Rwanda, where honey and natural processing were restricted until recently.

Rwanda grows mostly Bourbon, nearly all of it on small family farms, so a lot like this one traces back to hillside plots rather than to a large estate. In the cup, the caramel tends to come from the honey processing, while the red berries and apricot reflect the altitude. The recipe here is 14.4 g of coffee for 240 g of water at 93°C on a Kalita Wave, which keeps the sweetness intact and lets the red berries and apricot open as the cup cools.

Reading the Flavor Profile

These values are comparative editorial positions within our own catalog, calibrated so entries can be ranked against each other. They are not laboratory measurements.