Organic Notte Forte - Espresso

Dukunde Kawa is a well-known producer group in Rwanda, as much for exceptionally bright and memorable coffees as for its exceptional business structure: the cooperative carries multiple certifications for its various washing stations including Fair Trade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ, and more than 80% of its workforce is women. Not only that but the organization is located in the Northern province, which, despite its closeness to Kigali, tends to be little-known in specialty coffee compared to the west and south. Since first organizing in 2000 with a single wet mill, years before the majority of washing stations in Rwanda even existed, Dukunde Kawa has received sustainability awards from the SCA as well as placing in the top positions in Rwanda’s Cup of Excellence competition. Today the cooperative has over 2,000 farmer members and multiple washing stations in the Gakenke District north of Kigali. Mbilima is one of these stations.

Mbilima was established by Dukunde Kawa in 2005 to give farmers in this area a shorter commute to deliver cherry during harvest (Ruli, the coop’s other nearest station, made for a long journey for many and the quality of cherry suffered as a result). Thanks to a mineral-rich soil and lush environment, the washing station and its contributing farmers successfully achieved organic certification in 2015. This is one of the highest elevations that Dukunde Kawa serves, with farms passing 2100 meters. Mbilima itself sits at 2020 meters, making it one of the highest washing stations in the country. Because of the high elevation and local climate, harvest here progresses slowly and members annually pick coffee into the month of October, multiple months past the majority of the country.

Processing at Mbilima includes cherry sorting by the farmers themselves upon delivery. The cherry is then floated in a large receiving bay to identify and remove floaters (low-density cherry which is processed separately). Cherry is then depulped and the fresh parchment is graded immediately by flotation in a short channel. Fermentation usually lasts 18 hours and is completed without water. Once the dry fermentation is complete the parchment is soaked in fresh water between 18-24 hours to halt fermentation and the stabilize moisture content of the batch. After the soak the parchment is washed once again, this time in grading channels—long shallow concrete channels with water flowing through—which allows the parchment to naturally separate by density. From here, each separate density grade is moved to pre-drying tables to be hand-sorted for imperfections and gently dried to the touch. After the hand-sort is complete, the parchment is then moved to fully-exposed drying tables to finish drying, a process that takes between 14-21 days depending on the climate.

Despite its diminutive size compared to other East Africa coffee producing countries, Rwanda’s coffee has an important history and terroir entirely unique to the rest of the continent. Coffee was originally forced upon remote communities by the Belgians as a colony-funding cash crop. The Belgians distributed varieties cultivated by the French on Ile de Bourbon (now Reunion Island, near Madagascar) but had so little invested in coffee’s success that they immediately allowed production to decline through lack of investment in national infrastructure, as well as the farmers who grew it. As a result, the sector suffered near total obscurity in the coffee world from Rwanda’s independence in 1962 until the period of rebuilding following the country’s devastating civil war and astonishingly tragic genocide in 1994.

Rwanda’s former cash crop, however, roared to international buyer attention in the late 2000’s thanks to one of East Africa’s most successful coffee interventions, the Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda Through Linkages (PEARL). PEARL was a sweeping infrastructure and education investment targeting large regions of Rwanda whose coffee was for the most part processed poorly at home and exported with little traceability. The program, designed and led by the University of Michigan, Texas A&M and a host of Rwandan organizations, vastly increased processing hygiene by building washing stations. It also organized remote and under-resourced smallholders into cooperative businesses capable of specialty partnerships. Perhaps most significantly for the long term, it took the legacy bourbon genetics buried in abandon and polished them anew to the amazement of coffee drinkers everywhere. The snappy acidity, stone fruit flavors, and fragrant herbaceousness found in Rwanda’s coffee is still completely unique to bourbon produced anywhere else in the entire world. Producer groups like Dukunde Kawa cherish their farmers’ potential and are learning to maximize the quality and variety available from Rwanda’s most promising terroirs.

In the lush, mountainous landscape of Matas de Minas, a region known for its small-to-medium farms and rolling terrain, Fazenda Dutra stands as a shining example of what happens when tradition, innovation, and sustainability come together in perfect harmony. Though Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer, and Minas Gerais accounts for more than half of its total output, this family-run estate produces something truly special—coffee that reflects not only the richness of the land, but the values of the people who farm it.

More than 50 years ago, the Dutra family began planting coffee in this region. Today, the estate spans nearly 2,500 acres, encompassing 10 distinct farms and over 3 million coffee trees. Every cherry is hand-harvested—a rarity in Brazil—by over 600 seasonal workers during harvest, allowing for meticulous quality control and full traceability. While the estate may seem large, by Brazilian standards it’s modest in scale, which has enabled the Dutras to focus on producing specialty-grade, direct trade lots with incredible attention to detail.

Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword here—it’s a deeply rooted philosophy. Fazenda Dutra is 100% solar-powered for its depulping operations, and plans are underway to convert all mechanical dryers to solar as well. The estate maintains over 750 acres of preserved native forest, which protects natural water sources, prevents erosion, and provides biodiversity corridors for wildlife. Beyond these efforts, the Dutra family actively prioritizes organic practices—limiting synthetic inputs, enriching the soil with natural compost, and protecting ecological balance with shade trees and cover crops that improve water retention and nutrient cycling.

Their commitment to sustainability goes hand in hand with their care for people. The Dutras have invested in an on-site school, ensuring access to education for employees' children, and they provide a comprehensive health care program for workers and their families—an uncommon benefit in rural farming communities.

In every sense, Fazenda Dutra is a model of eco-conscious agriculture. From clay-rich volcanic soils and solar-powered equipment to organic farming practices and community well-being, every decision on this farm is made with long-term impact in mind. The result is more than just an exceptional cup of coffee—it's a product of purpose, progress, and genuine care.

The Wayanad Social Service Society (WSSS) is a cooperative growers’ collective and non-profit organization based in Wayanad, Kerala, India, founded in 1974 to support marginalized farming communities in the Western Ghats. It organizes and empowers over 8,000 smallholder farmers, focusing on organic and Fair Trade-certified coffee, spices, and pepper cultivation while promoting sustainable agriculture and community development. Located at 900–1,650 meters above sea level, WSSS farmers cultivate shade-grown Robusta and Arabica coffee under natural forest canopies, preserving biodiversity and soil health in this UNESCO Biosphere region. The society provides training on organic farming methods, certification support, technical assistance, and access to markets, ensuring that smallholder farmers receive fair prices for their crops. WSSS is also a pioneer in organic certification in Kerala, having facilitated certifications for over 19,000 farmers through collaboration with accredited certifying bodies like LACON and OneCert. Beyond agriculture, WSSS invests in community welfare through education programs, women's empowerment initiatives, and environmental conservation projects while ensuring transparent governance and fair practices across its member base. Their coffee, often natural-processed Robusta Cherry AA, is sun-dried and carefully graded, resulting in a clean, heavy-bodied cup profile with notes of dark chocolate and nutty sweetness typical of quality Indian Robusta. In essence, WSSS exemplifies a values-driven, farmer-centered cooperative model in India, combining high-quality, sustainable coffee production with impactful social and environmental initiatives that uplift smallholder farming communities in Wayanad.