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Rwanda

A specialty industry built almost from nothing in the last twenty-five years.

Altitude
1,400–2,000 m
Species
100% Arabica
Harvest
March–July

Overview

Rwanda grew coffee for most of the twentieth century and sold nearly all of it as low-grade commodity. The change came after 2000, with investment in washing stations that let smallholders deliver cherry rather than process it at home — the single structural fix that lets a country of small farms produce consistent specialty coffee.

It is a hilly, densely farmed country, and most producers work well under a hectare. Bourbon predominates, which is unusual: much of the world replaced it with higher-yielding hybrids.

Growing regions

  • Arabica

Shaded provinces contain growing areas; the crop covers only part of each.

1,450–1,900 m
Arabica

The western shore, where the lake moderates the temperature.

Harvest
  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D
Washed Natural Bourbon

1,600–2,000 m
Arabica

Southern Rwanda, around the Huye mountain — high, and late to harvest.

Harvest
  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D
Washed Bourbon

1,500–1,900 m
Arabica

Northern hills, steep and cool.

Harvest
  1. J
  2. F
  3. M
  4. A
  5. M
  6. J
  7. J
  8. A
  9. S
  10. O
  11. N
  12. D
Washed Bourbon

In the cup

Clean and floral, with orange and red-apple acidity and a notably silky body. The best lots edge into tea and stone fruit. Rwanda is also known for the "potato defect", an occasional off-cup caused by an insect-borne bacterium — it affects individual beans, not whole lots, and careful sorting keeps it rare.

Floral Citrus Tea-like Balanced
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Sources

  1. International Coffee Organization — Historical Data on the Global Coffee Trade (read August 24, 2026)
  2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — FAOSTAT — Crops and livestock products (read August 24, 2026)
  3. World Coffee Research — Arabica Coffee Varieties (read August 24, 2026) Cited for Varieties

Country outlines and shaded relief from Natural Earth, which places them in the public domain.

Growing-region markers indicate an area. They are not surveyed farm locations and should not be read as any.