Burundi Nemba

Altitude: 11700-1900 meters

Varietals: Bourbon

Process:
Cherries are sorted and then immediately depulped, dry fermented for 12 hours, then moved to secondary underwater fermentation for 12-24 hours before washing and drying on raised beds.

Harvest: April - July 2025

Region: Kayanza Province

In much of Latin America, coffee producers often manage both cultivation and processing at the farm level. In East Africa, the system is different. Farmers deliver freshly harvested cherries to centralized washing stations like Nemba, where processing is carefully controlled. This structure plays a key role in producing the clarity and intensity that define coffees from Burundi.

The Nemba Washing Station works with farmers from the Mikuba, Nkonge, and Gitwa communities. Cherries are meticulously sorted upon delivery to ensure only ripe fruit is processed. The coffee then undergoes fermentation for 24 to 48 hours, followed by a thorough washing and an overnight soak. Afterward, it is dried on raised beds for approximately two weeks, allowing the moisture to diminish slowly and evenly. 

Coffee in Burundi is composed primarily of Bourbon varieties, which contribute to the cup’s structure, sweetness, and layered complexity. Combined with the region’s altitude and growing conditions, the result is a profile that feels both vivid and grounded, rustic and elegant. These are coffees that reflect a precise intersection of variety, process, and place.

Year after year, the Nemba Washing Station produces some of the most dynamic coffees we taste from Burundi. Built in 1991, it serves approximately 2,600 smallholder farmers from surrounding communities, where farms often span just one to three acres. Deliveries are small, and the team at Nemba meticulously sorts cherries into distinct lots based on quality and flavor.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with most people earning between $1 and $2 per day. Work is often seasonal and unreliable. Within this context, coffee plays a critical role as one of the few consistent sources of income available to families. For many producers, the harvest is the most important financial moment of the year, supporting school fees, farm investments, and the months ahead. Even small changes in price or market access can have an outsized impact.

Because of this, how coffee is purchased matters. We return to the same partnerships each year with the goal of building reliability and paying prices that generate real income. In years past, base prices for Burundi coffee were extremely low, and we worked with partners to supplement income through initiatives like livestock programs and financial training. This year, prices for grade 1 washed coffees increased sharply, rising by nearly 70 percent. This reflects both stronger competition for cherry within Burundi and broader global market pressures.

Through it all, we remain grateful to continue sourcing these coffees. Grown in small garden plots just outside farmers’ homes, Burundi heirloom Bourbon varieties consistently offer a profile that is both grounded and expressive, with rustic sweetness, layered fruit, bright acidity, and a spiced finish. It is remarkable that coffees of this depth and clarity emerge from such challenging conditions, and it is a responsibility we take seriously in how we choose to buy and share them.

As Wonderstate Coffee grows, we remain steadfast in purchasing coffee from the same trusted partners each harvest. While this approach comes with challenges, it also fosters relationships that span decades and deepen yearly.

In 2026, we celebrate our tenth consecutive year of sourcing coffee from Nemba, and once again, this lot showcases the unwavering dedication to the quality and excellence of the Nemba team. Burundi coffees consistently rank among our favorites, and this year’s crop delivers the flavors we’ve grown to cherish.

The cup profile remains an ode to heirloom Bourbon trees, cultivated in small garden plots amongst hundreds of farms. The result is a cup that’s charming, structured, and resolute. You’ll find the tart and direct acidity of cranberries, followed by the rustic sweetness of dried figs, and finishing with layers of warming spices, most notably allspice. It’s a cup profile that is harmonious, inviting, and surprisingly complex.