Our second release of the season from the Izuba washing station in the well known coffee growing Kayanza Province. In previous years we've had washed, naturals and this anoxic natural from Izuba through our import partner Raw Material. Luckily for us (and you) we secured some more of this clean and vibrant ‘anoxic natural’ this year.
This processing technique was developed by the Raw Material technical team in Colombia and we were lucky enough to have the first production of the La Batea from there a few years back. They've copied the principles and details of this process method at the Izuba mill in Burundi. In summary this lot was processed as an ‘anoxic natural’ using a ‘water pillow’ technique. The technique focusses on low temperatures, and a vacuum-pressure created when a barrier is laid across the cherry or beans. Cool water is poured on top of the barrier, removing any chance of oxygen entering the space during fermentation. This absence of oxygen and low temperatures allows for extended fermentation times without a high thermal mass. This is because as heat leaves the fermenting coffee, the water pillow above the mass works as a heat exchanger, and the heat is able to evaporate off the top.
Izuba Coffee Washing Station was RM's first station and is situated in the Kabarore Commune, in northern Burundi. In 2019 they operated the station under a lease agreement and processed a total of 89,000 kilos of cherry purchased from 784 families, around 150 x 60 kilo bags.
The station aims to provide premiums where possible to not only the farmers but the station staff also. The employees were paid 25% higher than other local washing stations and 33% more than the national average salary. Producers are paid government-set prices for coffee cherries, in 2020 these were:
Cherry A (ripe) 550 BIF/kg
Cherry B (underripe, floaters etc) 275 BIF/KG
Producers are paid for cherry on two set payment dates in the year, which are also set by the government. The first is usually in April, very early in the harvest, and the second at the end of the harvest. Farmers essentially choose which station they will sell to that year through the first payment then deliver there for the whole season. At the end of the season third payments are made based on the quality and final sale price of the coffee. Making these three payments on time is a key concern for producers and one of Izuba's primary goals.
