Experience
Coffee Experiences
From the hillside to the cup, in one morning
01What it is
Visits to Rwandan coffee farms, washing stations and roasteries, including cupping sessions.
Rwanda grows outstanding bourbon-varietal arabica at altitude, and nearly all of it is exported. Most visitors drink better Rwandan coffee at home than they do in Kigali, which is a strange thing once you notice it.
That is changing. There are washing stations that welcome visitors, cooperatives that will walk you through picking, pulping, fermenting and drying, and roasters in Kigali doing serious work.
A morning at a washing station in harvest season, ending in a cupping, is one of the better half-days in the country.
- Where
- Kivu hills, Huye, Kigali
- Duration
- Half day
- Best months
- March to July
- Difficulty
- Easy
02What to expect
- 01
The whole process
Picking, pulping, fermenting, drying and sorting, explained by the people doing it.
- 02
A proper cupping
Tasting a flight side by side, which is where Rwandan coffee makes its case.
- 03
Harvest season is different
Between roughly March and July the stations are running and the visit is far richer.
- 04
Hillside settings
The farms are at altitude on steep ground, and the views are part of it.
03Best time
Best during the harvest, roughly March to July, when the washing stations are working.
- JanJan: quieter
- FebFeb: shoulder season
- MarMar: best
- AprApr: best
- MayMay: best
- JunJun: best
- JulJul: best
- AugAug: shoulder season
- SepSep: shoulder season
- OctOct: quieter
- NovNov: quieter
- DecDec: quieter
- Outside harvest you can still visit and cup, but the stations will be quiet.
04What to bring
- Shoes for steep, muddy ground
- Cash to buy beans
- An empty bag
05Requirements
- Washing station visits are arranged in advance, particularly in harvest season.
Permit costs, age limits and park regulations are set by the Rwanda Development Board and its partners and change from time to time. We confirm the current position with you in writing before anything is booked.
06Where it happens
Destinations for this
Western Province
Lake Kivu
One of the African Great Lakes, held between steep green hills on the Congolese border — islands, fishing boats, lakeside towns and the country's best place to stop moving.
2 nights
Kigali City
Kigali
Rwanda's capital, spread across a series of ridges and valleys — the arrival point for almost every trip, and a city worth more than the night most itineraries give it.
1 to 2 nights
Broadly March to July, varying with altitude and the year. If coffee is a priority, tell us and we will time the itinerary around a working washing station.
Add it to your trip
Plan coffee experiences
Tell us roughly when you want to travel and what you want to see. We will come back with an itinerary built around it, not a package pulled off a shelf.