Allow me to introduce you to Ikirezi, our first Direct Trade offering from Burundi. Beyond its lush mouthfeel and flavors of chocolate and citrus, this coffee sustains and represents a certain hope.

Land-locked and riddled with political strife for decades, Burundi has struggled to maintain economic and political stability. Coffee, its principal export, is consistently sold at a commodity price - a price we know to be barely sustainable, let alone suitable for covering the cost of production. The coffee sector itself has traditionally been regulated by the government. It wasn't until international aid projects stepped in around 2006 that Specialty coffee came to be recognized and acknowledged as a venue of optimism and prosperity for the Burundi people.

To me, the very action of encouraging and cultivating a trade sector for Specialty coffee speaks volumes. More and more, Specialty coffee is credited for its ability to create a better economic and social environment for producers. In Burundi, that's approximately 800,000 people.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. You cannot achieve quality without land husbandry, proper processing equipment, careful picking, meticulous sorting, good infrastructure and above all, a sustainable environment. If there is a demand for excellent coffee, then there is a need for all of the other aspects. You have people on one side, craving fantastic coffee and people on the other side longing for a higher quality of life. Add to that the desire for long term relationships (from both parties), and you've this beautiful fitting of puzzle pieces.

So, in we go. Exploring all there is to explore. Tasting all there is to taste. Meeting everyone we can possibly meet. In Burundi, it doesn't take long to understand the needs, but it also doesn't take long to understand the advantages. Burundi offers one of the most important quality contributors: land. The land of Burundi is at the perfect altitude for great coffee. Add to that the heirloom Bourbon and Typica varietals that have been around since the Belgian colonial rule in the 1950s and you've got the real deal. You cannot counterfeit good land or good trees; they are the very things that give life to coffee.

Another advantage in Burundi is the processing infrastructure. To maintain coffee cherry quality after picking and during transport, you need to watch the time. Coffee cherries begin to degrade rapidly and quality is lost in four hours after removal from the tree. Proximity to wet processing is crucial. There are over 141 cherry washing stations in Burundi—a country the size of Massachusetts. The average distance from a producer's farm to a washing station is 5 km (3.1 miles). The washing stations provide cherry sorting, depulping, fermentation, drying and hand sorting. Each station belongs to a managing organization known as a Sogestal.

Sogestal Kirundo Muyinga oversees 28 different washing stations while Sogestal Ngozi oversees 29. Situated as neighbors in the northern central region of Burundi, Ngozi and Kirundo-Muyinga stand out as Sogestals that nurture quality. Most recently, they've adopted the practice of keeping coffee lots from washing stations separate until the cup quality is assessed. This separation allows them to identify exemplary washing stations, which are then granted higher premiums for the higher quality. This year, the Ngogomo and Rugerero washing stations of the Kirundo-Muyinga Sogestal stood out on the table. The coffees were noticeably more complex and articulate in the cup. As for Sogestal Ngozi, the washing stations Rugabo and Murambi stood out for their unapologetic acidity and array of citrus fruit notes.

I must admit, I'm beguiled to be sipping on this coffee at this very moment. It is so much more than a great cup to me; it is symbolic of the hope, perseverance, and passion of the Burundi people. The name Ikirezi, coming from the indigenous Kirundi language, means “precious jewel” and what a precious jewel this coffee is.