Congo "Muungano Natural"
brown sugar • mixed berry preserves
Congo "Muungano Natural"
brown sugar • mixed berry preserves
This fair trade organic coffee is grown at 5,000-6,000 feet in the mountains surrounding Lake Kivu in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dense and sweet with a syrupy full body, this coffee features notes of brown sugar and mixed berry preserves that are brought to life by our delicate medium roast.
The Muungano cooperative was established in 2009, with its headquarters located in the town of Kiniezire, located along the western shore of Lake Kivu three hours south of Goma. The cooperative has over 4,000 members (split equally between women and men) across 16 sectors, is Fair Trade and Organic certified, and has a Board of Directors composed of 3 women and 4 men. Gender justice is a principal focus of the members, as is integrating farmers from different ethnic groups into the operation. The word "muungano" means "togetherness" in the Swahili language.
Natural process coffees are allowed to dry with the fruit intact, which can result in concentrated fruit and berry notes in the coffee. Sunny days are important during this drying process and the drying coffee cherries need to be covered when it rains. The processing steps used by Muungano are shown in the flowchart (alternate image). Photos and flowchart courtesy of Muungano's manager, Daniel Habamungu Chinyabuguma.
Our coffee is Fair Trade certified according to the Fair for Life standard, Organic Certified by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and grown in shaded conditions by small farmer cooperatives. In addition, the complete carbon footprint (from crop to cup) for our coffee has been offset with tree planting, which qualifies it as a CarbonFree Certified product by CarbonFund.org. All of our coffee is roasted to order and shipped fresh daily. We package in air-tight, foil-lined bags with one-way degassing valves to preserve freshness.
Description
This fair trade organic coffee is grown at 5,000-6,000 feet in the mountains surrounding Lake Kivu in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dense and sweet with a syrupy full body, this coffee features notes of brown sugar and mixed berry preserves that are brought to life by our delicate medium roast.
The Muungano cooperative was established in 2009, with its headquarters located in the town of Kiniezire, located along the western shore of Lake Kivu three hours south of Goma. The cooperative has over 4,000 members (split equally between women and men) across 16 sectors, is Fair Trade and Organic certified, and has a Board of Directors composed of 3 women and 4 men. Gender justice is a principal focus of the members, as is integrating farmers from different ethnic groups into the operation. The word "muungano" means "togetherness" in the Swahili language.
Natural process coffees are allowed to dry with the fruit intact, which can result in concentrated fruit and berry notes in the coffee. Sunny days are important during this drying process and the drying coffee cherries need to be covered when it rains. The processing steps used by Muungano are shown in the flowchart (alternate image). Photos and flowchart courtesy of Muungano's manager, Daniel Habamungu Chinyabuguma.
Our Coffee
Our coffee is Fair Trade certified according to the Fair for Life standard, Organic Certified by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and grown in shaded conditions by small farmer cooperatives. In addition, the complete carbon footprint (from crop to cup) for our coffee has been offset with tree planting, which qualifies it as a CarbonFree Certified product by CarbonFund.org. All of our coffee is roasted to order and shipped fresh daily. We package in air-tight, foil-lined bags with one-way degassing valves to preserve freshness.