Ninga - Filter coffee from Burundi

Ninga - Coffee Infos

How We Brew This Coffee

We use the following equipment for our recipe development:

Water: Total hardness 3 °dH, Alkalinity 1.5 °dH (more on the topic Coffee Water)
Grinder: Kinu M47 Classic
Dripper: Hario V60 Glass Filter 02
Filter Paper: Hario V60 Paper

Why Does This Coffee Taste The Way It Does?

This coffee comes from the Ninga Washing Station in Butanyerera, Burundi, at 1,900 meters above sea level. Some farms are located as high as 2,100 meters — at the upper limit of what is possible in Burundi. The national average is around 1,700 meters. At this elevation and on steep slopes, the cherries ripen more slowly, the beans become denser, and the flavor profile more complex.

The cherries are depulped on the day of harvest. This is followed by a double fermentation: first dry for around 12 hours, then another 24 hours in water. After that, they are washed and dried on drying beds for 16 to 20 days.

Why Did We Purchase This Coffee?

Ninga is truly remote — even Coca-Cola bottles, which make their way into almost every corner of the world, seldom reach this place. Clean drinking water is scarce, and electricity is virtually nonexistent. The coffee trees grow densely packed wherever they can find space. Along the edges of narrow farm paths or in front of mud-brick huts. It is in this very isolation that Ninga Hill has produced clean, complex coffees since its first season.

We purchased this coffee through Osito, an importer who focuses on fair, long-term supply chains and supports producers as a whole, not just selecting individual microlots. That aligns with what we are looking for.

How Do We Roast This Coffee?

As a 12.5kg batch on our 30kg Giesen roaster. In 8 minutes 40 seconds at an end temperature of 186.5°, we finish roasting the coffee. The development time is slightly longer, allowing us to emphasize the sweetness in the coffee even more.