Burundi Migoti Hill Natural
Burundi Migoti Hill One roast.
I cannot believe how happy this coffee makes me feel! If you like sweet, ripe, tropical tasting naturals with a twinkle of acidity then this may also make you smile in a childish way that only some things can. What a relief to have great naturals back in the building after so (too?) many anaerobic naturals. However lovely alternative processes can be, there is magic in more traditional processes that are done well. As I have said many times in coffee, variety is the spice.
Top Trumps:
Name: Migoti Hill
Location: Mutambu Commune of Bujumbura Province Western Burundi
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Number of farmers: 500+
Washing station manager: Zephyrin Banzubaze
Processing method: Natural,
The altitude of the farms: 1700 – 1900 masl
Average plantation size: 1-5 acres
Soil: Sandy, Clay, loamy Soil
Roast: Light Filter. We would primarily recommend this as a filter brew. The espresso is 👌. More below.
Cup Potential: 🥣
|Aromatics: Ripe and tropical | Body: light-silky| Acidity: Soft and light with a twinkle of acidity|
On the front end, Migoti Hill natural has ripe brown fruits with a glimmer of acidity. Having cupped this a few times now, I can vouch for its complexity. You may well also experience fig jam-like sweetness, cola, candied black cherries, and a soft Russet (brown apple) acidity. As the coffee cools right down there is a cedar meets rosewater moment. Due to the low acidity, when the coffee completely cools to room temperature it does fade so maybe this is not the one to drink completely cold.
Filter Recipe:
In batch brewing, we have been getting some great results at 60g per litre. Depending on what you want to experience in the cup and how good your water is should define how much coffee and how fine you grind.
Espresso Recipe: Starting at 93C
Milk-based drinks: 1:2 (16-18g of coffee into 32-35g of espresso) in 26-30-ish seconds
Espresso: 16-18g of coffee into 45-50g of liquid in 30-36 seconds. This is where you get that compressed juicy intensity that espresso does quite unlike anything else.
Surprisingly this cuts through into 9oz of whole milk if that’s your leaning. The smaller the milk drink the riper and boozier the drink becomes. I tried stretching the espresso to 60g of liquid and even tried serving it in a bigger vessel to get more from the aromatics. The latter worked more than extra liquid. If anything changes, I will update this.
About Migoti Hill:
This coffee is from our friends at Omwani. Founded in 2018, by two Brits who wanted to do business differently in East Africa. Arguably amongst of the best coffee terroir in the world with some of the least reward.
Setting the scene: Burundi has agriculture at the heart of its economy, with a staggering 70% of its population living in poverty. Burundi has one of the highest reputations for the quality of coffee in Africa. Most coffee in Burundi is grown on small plots and although the soil is volcanic and rich, it can also suffer from erosion, and coffee plants are often grown longer than their peak of production. There is little or no help with fertilizers on a governmental level. Buying and moving coffee from Burundi can be a huge challenge and that is why it is so convenient to work as we do.
Migoti Hill (washing station) is situated in an area known as Migoti Mountain. Having 10 permanent and up to 250 temporary workers during the harvest time (May to June). Zephyrin Banzubaze, manager of the washing station has to organise the staff as well as train and support the smallholder farmers. He has to oversee receiving and selecting of coffees, drying storage, and the final stages of preparation for export. Migoti also assists farmers through ongoing education to prune and properly care for coffee trees, intercrop, plant shade trees, utilize green fertilizers, stabilize soils, and natural pest control. The expectation is that by following best farming practices the farmers can increase the yields from their coffee trees.
