Burundi Ninga Hill Peaberry

Key Lime Pie and Raspberry with a Sweet Honey Finish

Every year Ninga Hill terroir offers a balance between bright raspberry and lemon high tones surrounded by broad and full textured lower tones which we attribute to the dramatic range of altitude among the small family farms in this community. The high farms contribute the high toned fruit character while the low farms offer the fuller low toned sweet qualities to form a final coffee greater than the sum of its parts.

When Kevin discovered Long Miles founder Ben Carlson in Bujumbura, Burundi in 2014 they found a shared passion and energy for the potential of specialty coffee to transform lives. Ben started the company with his wife Kristy building their first washing station Bukeye that connected small farmers from different hill communities in one of the world’s poorest countries to a global specialty coffee community. Ninga Hill was one of the founding hill communities traveling the farthest distance to the Bukeye station and has been an annual offering at Saint Frank since that meeting. We are proud to partner with Long Miles in establishing the new Ninga Washing Station as our shared vision expands.

Producers

Ninga Hill and the Long Miles Coffee Project

Places

Muramuya, Kayanza

Varieties  Washed Bourbon Peaberry

Terroir

Over 300 family gardens between 1700m-2000m Most less than 1 acre on volcanic red loamy soil 

Process

Whole cherries are floated and hand sorted before removing the skins with a disk style McKinnon depulper. The freshly depulped coffee is double fermented with two 12 hour cycles of fermentation followed by four hours of rinsing. Washed parchment coffee is then set to dry on raised beds with daily turning for 15-20 days

This Burundi lot showcases the Bourbon Peaberry varietal grown in Kayanza's Muramuya region at 1700–2000 meters elevation. Produced through collaboration between Ninga Hill and the Long Miles Coffee Project, the coffee was washed to highlight its bright, citrus-forward character. Saint Frank Coffee identifies pronounced notes of key lime pie, raspberry, and lemon alongside supporting honey sweetness—a profile typical of washed-process coffees, which tend to emphasize clarity and acidity. The peaberry beans themselves, naturally smaller and denser than flat seeds, can concentrate flavor intensity in the cup.