Many years ago, on a February coffee crawl in Montreal, I was amazed to be served three sensational Rwandan coffees in the first three cafes I visited. In that city, in that year, in that month, if you wanted a high-brightness, high-complexity, in-season single-origin coffee, it was coming from Rwanda. I was new enough to specialty at that point that this was a transfixing experience, and ever since, I have held this country in special esteem when it comes to fresh wintertime stunners. Nowadays, working with the unbelievable duo of Baho (Rwanda) and Sundog (USA), we’ve come to expect greatness, and we’re yet to be disappointed.

Jean Marie Vianney Usekanabagoyi is one of the very few Rwandan farmers whose coffee has made it all the way through the supply chain while still brandishing his name. The vast majority of producers here tend to small parcels of trees, meaning that their collective work is blended into lots that represent their washing station. There is strength and security in this system, but there is always tremendous intrigue and often potential upside in refining coffee traceability. Emmanuel Rusatira, the man behind Rwanda’s Baho Coffee, describes his interpretation of their single-farm initiative:

The reason why Baho coffee selected to process and market their production separately from others is because we wanted to motivate them. Selling coffee in their names makes them proud and increases their energy and commitment… We have signed a commitment letter with these farmers where they commit to implementing all good agricultural and quality control practices and to deliver their cherries to Baho [Community Washing Station]. Baho will market and promote their coffee and pay them better prices that are higher than any other farm in the region/country.

JMV, as he’s nicknamed, is a farmer with a fair amount of land, ample shade trees, and various other crops interspersed with his coffee. He delivers his cherries to Ngoma Station—a CWS that we’ve represented in years past. Our importing partners at Sundog met with JMV this past buying season and had this to say: 

After finally meeting JMV during our visit in 2022, we can confidently claim that the lively, dynamic characteristics of his coffee align perfectly with his personality. Since day one, JMV has been on board with Baho protocols and dedicated to delivering each season to Ngoma. He takes a few extra steps at the farm level - like selecting only the ripest cherries, floating, and sorting defects - all before taking cherries to the station. 

In the end, we’ve got a tremendously delightful coffee that certainly lives up to the LIVELY, DYNAMIC descriptors Sundog applied to the man himself. Great coffees from this part of the world often have spicy, winey, citrusy elements to their brightness, giving them a beguiling character that’s a little more INTERESTING than other variations on the theme. This is a swell sipper for brooding, spell-casting, or however you like to pass the time during these months of waxing daylight.