Le café des Femmes du Rwanda, le Fully Washed Sake

We have to admit that we’re delighted to introduce you to coffee from a women’s cooperative. Fully Washed Sake has many wonderful qualities, and we’re sure you’ll soon be tempted to try it.

Ethics at the heart of our values

If you already know our online store and coffee brand, you probably know that we place great importance on fair trade and ethical production methods. It seemed obvious to us to work with these women in Rwanda.

Rwanda, Africa, and women

Africa is a continent where inequalities abound. Extreme poverty in some regions is due to several factors. Drought, armed conflicts, and political instability leave local populations without resources. Women’s work in the home is essential, but they also hold important roles in agriculture. All the ideas for helping Africa that come from wealthy countries are worthwhile, but when a project is born directly from the initiative of the local population, it’s even more powerful. When women in Rwanda lead a project and it becomes a success, it deserves a little help.

A cooperative supporting women’s work

Our partnership with Max Havelaar allows us to work with beans that provide local populations with fairer compensation, but there are other ways to support cooperatives. For the past few years, women in Rwanda have been helping other women become independent through coffee cultivation. This project began when they bought a washing station in the Sake province in eastern Rwanda. The goal is to produce, cultivate, sort, and export Fully Washed Sake with women. The work involved in this washed coffee, combined with natural sun-drying, gives these beans the ideal conditions for optimal maturation.

Fully Washed Sake characteristics:

• Plantations located at elevations between 1,400 and 1,900 meters
• Harvested from May to October
• Arabica Kent and Bourbon
• SCA score: 85

An exceptional coffee

It would have seemed absurd to us to consider only the ethical side of Fully Washed Sake. Its taste and aromatic quality were at the heart of our concerns: did these beans from Rwanda have a place in our range?

Fully Washed Sake’s flavors

Fully Washed Sake quickly put all our concerns about its aromas to rest. This pure Bourbon Arabica gives us a cup with almond and caramel flavors. Our monk’s robe roast allows these beans to express a pleasant acidity and a balanced body. Its caffeine content is 1.35%, which is average for a pure Arabica. As espresso, its brown crema gives off intense aromas. If you’ve already enjoyed our Kalico from Burundi, you should definitely try Fully Washed Sake.

The pride of French roasters

Our role as an artisan roaster is to roast very high-quality beans. This also entails a number of responsibilities regarding the sustainability of the industry and commercial ethics. Our values require us to pay cooperatives in producer countries fairly and support local initiatives. When we’re involved with projects as exceptional as Fully Washed Sake, it’s our duty to spread the word as widely as possible.