Stumptown Coffee Roasters Rwanda Kanzu
This coffee was one of the trio that I recently ordered from Stumptown. One of those online ordering moments when I was delirious at the prospect of sampling not one, not two, but three(!) unique, direct-trade coffees from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. I’m still hung up on getting my hands on different coffees from Rwanda, and so the prospect of trying both of Stumptown’s direct-trade Rwandan offerings alongside their one Burundi coffee was simply too enticing for my mouse-finger to resist. Next thing I knew all three were en route to my doorstep.
I think that everyone who gets hooked on a particular gastronomic delicacy can think back to that one item that opened their eyes and initiated their obsession. For instance, I remember distinctly when this “scotch” moment struck. It was a bottle of Caol Ila 12-Year. It was the first bottle that I’d purchased, and it took me a while to warm up to it. But then one day, I had a dram and it tasted different somehow. My mind had rounded the corner, my tastebuds had woken up to what was in the glass. All of a sudden I could taste nuances of scotch that I had never noticed before, and it was so exciting. The rest, as they say, is history.
I can remember that same moment with regards to coffee, and it’s why I’ve been so avidly seeking out Rwandan coffees of late. My coffee moment was a Rwandan coffee that completely woke me up to the possibilities of the flavors and nuances that a cup of joe can embody. It caught my attention in a way that no coffee had before. Several coffees have since, and they’ve come from all over the world and from several different roasters.
But lately I’ve been in this frame of mind where I’ve been interested in really mining a particular vein of coffee, in an effort to learn as much as I can about the many ways that coffee from one particular country can express itself. Specifically in terms of where it was grown in that country, what varietals were grown, at what washing station it was handled, how it was fermented, how it was packaged before being shipped to the roaster, and the choices the roaster made in producing the final roasted coffee. And so my coffee tasting of late has included a smattering of offerings from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The jury is still out on what I’ve found thus far. There have been two consistent elements in all of the coffees tasted thus far: body and acidity. They’ve all featured medium-weight to velvety bodies that came across as creamy and substantial on your palate. Intrinsically related to this has been the level of acidity, which has been consistently soft and subtle, present in enough capacity to brighten up the coffee’s creamy body, but not so much as to distract from the palate of flavors and substance.
Alongside the consistent elements of body and acidity has been a relatively consistent flavor spectrum that includes dark chocolate, red berries and fruits, and earthy tones. These flavors haven’t been present in all of the coffees, but they have all borrowed something from this basic palette. The overall picture, when you combine these three elements together, has been a series of warming, rather plush coffees that have had significant depth, and expressed chocolate and fruit flavors.
The coffee at hand is a Rwanda Kanzu, produced at the Kanzu washing stations in the Nyamasheke province, located in southwestern Rwanda along the shores of Lake Kivu, the biggest body of water in the country. The coffee is grown at very high altitudes, approximately 1900 meters, with the trees perched on the slopes of the surrounding mountains. The coffee is 100% bourbon varietal, and ripens at a slow rate due to the high altitudes. Stumptown’s literature indicates their belief that this contributes notably to its unique flavors and body.
This coffee is no exception from the pattern of flavor and texture elements that I’ve found thus far. In terms of the flavor spectrum, I found this coffee to be more earthy than some of the others that I’ve tasted recently. The nose had contrasting flavors of forest mushrooms, brown sugar, and fresh baked bread. The palate had a soft and delicate body lightened somewhat by a bright acidity. While some roasters prefer a dark-roast for African coffees, Stumptown uses more of a medium-style roast for theirs, and this coffee is a good example. The roast they’ve used here allows the brighter acidity to sit alongside both fruitiness and dark sugars, and heightens the coffee’s earthiness. The palate has flavors of light red wine (think pinot noir as opposed to cabernet), peanuts, and a dry earthiness. While the coffee initially comes across sweet, it finishes very dry and spare with very little sweetness on the finish. Flavors of oak and a prickle of acidity round out the cup.
This was a good cup of coffee, and very distinct from the other African coffees that I’ve tasted recently. I’ve got one more Rwandan coffee to drink from Stumptown, a Rwanda Muyongwe, and it will be very interesting to note how these two compare to one another.
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