UGANDA: ANAEROBIC NATURAL, KIGEZI VALLEY

Tastes like

Cherry and hibiscus up front. Black Forest cake underneath. Clean coffee, full volume.

You get dark cherry and hibiscus right out of the gate, with a rich, layered sweetness underneath that calls Black Forest cake to mind. The anaerobic fermentation takes everything the Kigezi Valley already does and turns the dial up.

The coffee

The same Kigezi Valley. A different side of it. If you had our Kigezi Valley Natural, you know the farm. The same network of over 300 smallholder farmers in the far southwest of Uganda at over 2000 metres. The same volcanic soil, the same Mountain Harvest partnership, the same dramatic altitude. What changes is what happens after harvest. Anaerobic fermentation takes cherries that were already exceptional and pushes the fruit character deeper, the florals higher, and the intensity further than the natural process alone ever could. And it stays clean all the way through.

Origin

The land does the work. The process amplifies it. Kigezi sits at the confluence of two forces: the volcanic soil of the western rift and the mist rolling off lakes Bunyonyi and Mutanda. Day to night temperatures swing dramatically at this altitude, slowing the cherry down and concentrating sugars over a longer ripening period. Abundant sunshine and over 1500mm of annual rainfall mean the plants are never stressed and never rushed. The anaerobic fermentation picks up exactly where that terroir leaves off.

Process

Anaerobic natural, dried whole. Cherries are sorted for quality using a float tank to remove defective fruit, then sealed in a container to ferment anaerobically before being transferred to raised beds or tarpaulins to dry with the fruit intact. The sealed environment creates a distinct flavour impact: increased fruit intensity, a lift in acidity, and more body. That is where the dark cherry, the hibiscus, and the depth of the Black Forest cake come from.

Brew it your way

Filter lets it open up. Espresso concentrates it beautifully. On filter at 1:16, the cherry and hibiscus have room to breathe and the Black Forest cake body comes all the way through. Pull it as espresso at a 1:2 ratio in 28 to 32 seconds and you get something concentrated, floral, and dark that is hard to stop pulling.