IN THE SUN

NATURAL LOTS:
In The Sun always features naturally processed coffees. These are lots in which fresh cherries are harvested and set out to dry in the sun. By leaving those outer fruit and mucilage layers intact during drying, the seed takes on complex pulpy sugars. This drying typically takes around two weeks with the next stage being ‘hulling’ in which the outer layers are removed before a final wash. 

Natural coffees are ‘the perfect starting point’ for people interested in specialty coffee. The processing lends itself to deep fruit-forward flavours, which are easy to pick up and makes ‘taste notes’ far less ambiguous. The cup will have much bigger body than washed processes, and natural lots can even lend themselves to more earthy and robust sensory profiles. 

Simple with heavy sweetness, our natural lots are crowd pleasers that will leave you feeling content. As Nirvana’s All Apologies suggests, “In the sun, In the sun, I feel as one.”

ORIGIN:
A group of 30 woman started the Abateraninkunga Ba Sholi Co-operative or Sholi in 2008 as a conscious effort to invigorate the local economy. Originally, coffee was only a small part of the association, due to a lack of market and no access to washing stations. Over the next decade, however, the association shifted to a producer cooperative as coffee emerged as a viable option for members with Sholi then opening its own washing station in 2014.

'Abateraninkunga' is a Kinyarwanda word that translates to 'mutual assistance', alluding to the core values of community and collaboration. Today there are 610 producers with this lot. The Coop became Fair Trade certified in 2015, the same year they won the Rwanda Cup of Excellence Award.

FLAVOUR:
I love the contrast in the cup with really light and zesty tropical notes of pineapple, mango, guava and bright lime over really rich cooked sugars. It reminds me of a blueberry breakfast bar or berry muffin, that mostly just tastes like sugar and cake. You will get a nice body, given the natural processing and a delightful light chocolate finish.