Burundi | Ninga Hill

The Ninga washing station is a newer site built by the Long Miles team in 2020. Here, between 1800–2000 MASL, smallholders from Ninga Hill deliver cherries to contribute to this lot. This is a very well-processed coffee that tastes to us just as clean as a washed coffee. We find a sweet and delicate cup with a lively acidity. Flavors of citrus and apricot are up front, along with sweet marzipan, milky black tea, and dried currants.

Ninga Hill stands as one of the most secluded regions in Burundi, characterized by small-scale farming with an average farm size of just 300 square meters and approximately 110 coffee trees per farm. This exceptional coffee is sourced through the Long Miles Coffee Project, an initiative founded by Ben and Kristy Carlson in 2011. Their mission is to provide agricultural support to coffee growers in Burundi while enabling roasters to access consistently high quality and traceable coffee from the region.

Cherries are hand-picked at peak ripeness, floated, and hand-sorted to remove defects. The cherries are pulped and fermented in sealed tanks for 36–48 hours. The seeds are then dried on raised beds until a moisture content of 10.5%.