James - Filter

Tastes Like: Plum, Cranberry, and Pomegranate Bitters.

This is a solid Rwandan offering. Rwanda was plagued by the "potato defect" for a long time which left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. Well. The taste left in your mouth was more raw dirty sweet potato.

But not this one! James is a comforting washed coffee with a very pleasant "red fruit" vibe. Lovely acidity from the cranberry but balanced by the richness and sweetness of the plum. A great coffee that everyone should enjoy.

ABOUT THE GOOD PERSON ON THE BAG:

James! Jimmy. Such a cutie. Really the only guy capable of going band for band on cuteness with Prue.

James made a splash (with Prue) day one at Parkside and was an instant top customer. Then we found out he was cute, kind, AND talented and we thought it was all a bit too much. He’s a great tattoo artist and loves a good fantasy world. We’ve had a long term bond over “battle amphibians” which is a silly way of saying we like drawings of frogs in battle, and this bond is so strong we may even have a special GPNT design coming up featuring James’ handiwork…

Often seen in his red beanie, James is a local to the Parkside hood and a bloody welcome one at that.

THE GOOD PEOPLE BEHIND THE COFFEE:

Kirorero

The Kirorero washing station serves about 2012 smallholder producers in the areas of Boneza and Musasa, about 800 of whom are women farmers. The communities of Gisiza, Remera, Kinunga, Buhoro, and Nkira contribute to the washing station. It is run by Coopérative pour la Promotion des Activités Café or COOPAC. This washing station is remote, only accessible by boat after an hour-and-a-half drive down the lake. Tucked in the steep walls of the Gasuma valley right at lake level, Kirorero receives coffee from 1511 farmers. Some coffee arrives by boat and the rest on foot or bicycle, since they do not have direct access via road. This of course means that all processed coffee must be consolidated and make the journey up the lake by boat to Nyamwenda CWS where it’s trucked out to the main access point.

Remote but beautiful, Kirorero is a great example of COOPACs mission to collaborate with farmers to enhance their quality of life and well-being. The growers are organized into two first-tier cooperatives: KOTWIBAKABO and COPROCUCAMU.