Burundi Masha

Why We Love It

Typical of Burundian coffees, Masha offers a captivating blend of earth-toned fruits, aromatic baking spices, crisp acidity, and tea-like complexity—flavors that define the region’s distinct profile. This selection from the Masha washing station showcases notes of earthy apricots, dried citrus, and warm baking spices, finishing with a lingering touch of aromatic tea leaves. 

About the Producer

Nestled in Burundi’s Kayanza province, the countryside is a striking landscape of rolling green hills and rich red soil, dotted with villages and small communities. The high altitude and cool, dry climate here create ideal conditions for growing exceptional coffee.  

Yet, despite the land’s potential for quality coffee production, the people of Burundi face significant challenges. With nearly 13 million people in a small, densely populated country, land is divided into ever-smaller parcels, making large-scale farming nearly impossible. Farmers must contend with soil degradation, climate change, political instability, limited infrastructure, and scarce access to education and healthcare—all of which make everyday life incredibly difficult.  

Coffee farming here happens on a micro scale, with most growers cultivating just a few hundred trees on plots as small as a quarter acre. Because of this, coffees from hundreds, sometimes thousands, of farmers must be combined to create exportable volumes.  

For nearly a decade, we have sourced from socially driven exporters in Burundi who are committed to quality and impact. Masha is one of several washing stations operated by Greenco, an exporter dedicated to both coffee excellence and community development. Established in 1989, Masha serves over 2,500 farmers across 12 collines (hills or neighborhoods).  

Beyond offering competitive prices for coffee cherries, Greenco invests in education for farmers' children, employment for young community members, and secondary income sources such as livestock distribution. They also operate farmer hubs, small stores providing essential goods at reduced prices.  

About the Coffee

In the Americas, coffee farmers typically oversee the entire production process, from cultivation to processing. In East Africa, however, the process is different. Farmers deliver freshly harvested cherries to washing stations like Masha, where the centralized processing creates coffees with exceptional clarity and intensity—qualities that make Burundi coffee so compelling.

The Masha washing station serves 12 communities. Once cherries arrive, they are meticulously sorted for ripeness, ensuring consistently outstanding flavors. The coffee undergoes underwater fermentation for 48 hours, a process that enhances the clarity and brightness unique to the flavor profile. After fermentation, the beans are given a final wash and an overnight soak before being transferred to African drying beds, where they dry for two weeks.