Big, bold blackberries with boozy pomegranate notes and a soft rooibos tea aftertaste.

Gishubi lies just beside Burundi’s Kibira Forest, where cool mists roll through daily, slowing cherry development and deepening flavour. But this proximity has also made it a hotspot during conflict; farmers often forced to flee, with crops, homes, and schools abandoned.

Coffee from Gishubi is processed at Heza Washing Station, which draws fresh spring water from nearby sources. Farmers deliver freshly harvested cherries daily, where they are floated and hand-sorted for ripeness. During the fully washed process, cherries are pulped and fermented twice – first dry for around twelve hours, then wet for twenty-four. In some cases, a team “foots” the parchment: dancing and agitating it by foot to remove stubborn mucilage, before rinsing, grading by density, and soaking it again in clean water.

For natural processing, whole cherries are floated, hand-sorted, and then taken straight to raised beds. Over the next twenty-five to thirty days, they dry in their skins—gradually transforming from deep red to prune-dark purple-black. This slow, careful drying preserves sweetness and delivers a rich, fruit-forward profile that showcases Gishubi’s unique terroir.