Shyira

When cupping the new harvest of Shyira, we surprised ourselves by choosing the natural over the washed this year. It's a vibrant, jammy and super clean cup that shows exactly what well processed natural Rwanda can taste like.

Built in 2017, Shyira Washing Station is a station situated at 2000 MASL, collecting cherry from neighbouring producers that live between 2000 - 2400 MASL. This is the highest grown coffee we know of in Rwanda, and it’s from a region where very few washing stations are located, making it somewhat unique. All cherry is hand-sorted before a pre-pulp float, underripe or damaged cherry is removed, along with any foreign objects. Cherry is then floated in pre-pulping tanks removing any floaters and later pulped.  Once the cherry is sorted and cleaned, it is ready to be dried. The cherries are laid out evenly across raised beds, providing consistent airflow, and height away to prevent moisture and animals coming into contact with the cherry.

Every Muraho washing station has its own washing station song. These have been created to instil a sense of pride and ownership to both full time and casual workers. Throughout the day groups of staff join together in song, dancing in the fermentation tanks, singing through five iterations of their song while stomping on the parchment. The process takes about 20 minutes and all the while, the fermentation process is assisted with the agitation of the coffee during the fermentation stage. This process is quite an experience to partake in!

Origin: Rwanda
Region: Nyamasheke
Washing Station: Shyira
Producer: Nyabihu
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Natural