Izuba Decaf, Burundi

Izuba meaning “sun” in Kirundi, is located in Runinya, Kabarore Commune, of Kayanza Province. The Izuba washing station is set close to a nearby river, providing a vital and regular freshwater source for coffee processing. The station is managed by Ntama Appolinaire, who works alongside Prosper Merrimee, the operational manager of RM Burundi. Izuba employs 2 full-time staff and around 250 seasonal workers, who are all local to the station. Izuba is situated near to the Kibira national park, where the soil and climate are paired well for fantastic coffee production.

All cherry is hand-sorted before a pre-pulp float, where any under ripe or damaged cherry is removed. The selected cherry is now pulped in preparation for fermentation. The now parchment coffee is fermented in concrete fermentation tanks for an average of 12 hours under water. During this time, the fermenting parchment is agitated several times through the day.

After fermentation, coffee is released into a large serpentine grading channel. This process also separates parchment into different density grades. During the washing process, parchment is continuously agitated to encourage lower density parchment to float and to clean any residual mucilage off the parchment. Once the parchment is separated into grades, it is given a final post-wash rinse. At this point, coffee is taken to a pre-drying area where the parchment is hand-sorted removing any insect-damaged, discoloured or chipped coffee. The parchment is laid out to dry and turned on a regular basis throughout the day for between 15 and 20 days depending on the climate.