Busambo - Red Bourbon
Busambo - Red Bourbon
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Coffee ships directly from each roaster, freshly roasted. Orders with coffees from multiple roasters arrive as separate boxes.
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Tasting Notes
Specific flavors and aromas the roaster (or our team) noticed when cupping this coffee. They describe the brewed cup, not flavorings added to the beans.
Read more in the glossary →-
Roast Level
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Roast Level
How dark the beans are roasted, on a 'specialty' scale where Light/Ultralight preserves the most origin character.
Read more in the glossary → - Specialty Light/Ultralight
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Flavor Profile
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Flavor Profile
High-level flavor families this coffee leans toward — fruity, floral, sweet, chocolate/nutty, spicy, tea/botanical, or fermented/wine-like.
Read more in the glossary → - Fruity
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Coffee Type
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Coffee Type
Whether a coffee is a single origin (from one farm, region, or country) or a blend (multiple origins combined).
Read more in the glossary → - Single Origin
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Flavor Notes
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Flavor Notes (SCA)
More specific flavor families inside the broader profile, using the SCA Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel — e.g. 'Citrus' and 'Berry' inside 'Fruity'.
Read more in the glossary → - Stone Fruit, Citrus
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Caffeine
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Caffeine
Whether this coffee is caffeinated or decaffeinated, and (for decaf) which process was used.
Read more in the glossary → - Caffeinated
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Country of Origin
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Country of Origin
Where in the world this coffee was grown, or 'Multiple' for a blend with beans from more than one country.
Read more in the glossary → - Burundi
Region: Kyanza, Burundi
Altitude: 18-2100 Meters Above Sea Level
Process: Washed
Harvest: June 2025
Notes: Candied Plum, Citrus & Quince.
It has been a brilliant year for Burundian coffee and Busambo's production is one of our favorites of the season. This is our sweetest Red Bourbon lot selection from Kayanza with a super bright & clean acidity. In the cup we get an array of sunshine with notes of loquat, apple, apricot, pink grapefruit, candied plum, complex sweetness & undertones of dried fruit and cacao. A complex and glossy cup that has a fun dynamic hot to cool.
Burundi is a small, landlocked nation in East Africa, bordered by Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Lake Tanganyika—the deepest lake in Africa and the second-largest freshwater lake in the world. Spanning nearly 28,000 square kilometers, Burundi is one of the continent’s most densely populated countries, with nearly 13 million people. The vast majority of the population practices subsistence farming, and cash crops like coffee and tea are essential lifelines, providing the income necessary for education, livestock, and household needs.
Near the Kayanza area is located the Umoco washing station—named after the Kirundi word for “light”— which serves as the central hub for the surrounding hills. Producers typically deliver their cherries on foot, though some utilize bicycles or motorcycles. Coffee here is primarily grown in full sun, often without the use of fertilizers due to their high cost. For subsistence, families also cultivate bananas, maize, cassava, and beans. The coffee undergoes a meticulous processing routine: a 12-hour wet fermentation is followed by a second 12-hour fermentation in cement tanks. The parchment is then dried for 20 to 25 days on traditional African raised beds.
Bourbon (pronounced burr-bone), is one of the most culturally and genetically important C. Arabica varieties in the world, known for excellent cup quality at the highest altitudes. Bourbon and Typica make up an overwhelming majority of the parentage and lineage we consume in specialty coffee. A tall variety with relatively low cherry production. The Burundian government has made it a legal requirement to only produce the Bourbon variety, though we know there are other varieties mixed in there, the majority of the coffee is in fact Bourbon.
Order by Sunday for next Monday's roast. Shipped on Tuesdays. Our coffees are best after two weeks+ of the roast date.
