Farm: Masha Washing Station, various small farmholders
Altitude: 1800-2100
Varieties: Bourbon
Process: Washed, raised beds
Masha Station is a coffee cherry collection site located in Burundi's northern province that borders neighboring Rwanda. The washing station acts as a central delivery site for a few thousand smallholder farmers who occupy the hills surrounding Masha. The name comes from the Kirundi word "amasho" meaning "herds of cattle" - of which there is plenty in this region.
Farmers grow mostly older bourbon types, the original coffee cultivar introduced to the area in the 1930s by Catholic monks traveling from the island of Reunion. This small French island (originally named 'Ile Bourbon' after the French dynasty) sits in the southern Indian Ocean very near to Mauritius. Coffee was originally introduced to the uninhabited island of Reunion in 1708 by the French, who brought seeds and 60 coffee plants over from Yemen, but they did not survive. Coffee was then re-introduced in 1711 by Mr d’Hardancourt, Secretary of the French East India Company, on a mission to Reunion Island. Between 1715 and 1718, only 6-7 of these Arabica coffee plants from Reunion's plantations survived and adapted to the natural climate. In 1771 they were found to have naturally mutated into the Bourbon Pointu variety grown today, and became highly esteemed in the court of Louis XV.
They've been around since 1989, and in 2012 were top place in the Burundi Cup of Excellence.
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