JNP Bavyeyi IV Natural Bourbon

1/3

$14.00

In Kirundi, Bavyeyi means 'parents' and honors the many hardworking parents that provide for their families by picking coffee cherry in Ngozi. Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian is the founder of JNP Coffee and her own mother used to help the family harvest coffee cherries in Ngozi in order to cover her school fees. Now, Jeanine runs a non-profit, called Burundi Friends International, that funds education and economic empowerment programs in rural Burundi. She also operates JNP Coffee, which owns and facilitates the processing and export of coffee at several mills in Ngozi and Kayanza. JNP focuses on women's empowerment and advocates for women's rights in Burundi, alongside their purpose of showcasing the best coffee that Kayanza and Ngozi have to offer. The Bavyeyi producers are a women-owned group and work closely alongside JNP QC team to ensure best quality practice and lot separation takes place.

This lot is a fascinating expression of Ngozi Bourbon. It has the classic subtle dried spice and dried fruit qualities that sit within the body of many Burundi lots. It's also a slow-dried Natural -- most Burundi naturals take as long as 45 to 60 days to dry. But, the resulting cup is dramatically different to many Ngozi naturals we've tried. It's layered and complex, but dry and effervescent, like a natural fermentation orange wine. Most pourovers we made have the sweetness of plum wine (umeshu) and hood strawberries, but the drying body of sparkling wine. It has a subtle herbal character on the linger that we associate with thyme. It makes for a surprisingly crisp and sparkly cup at slightly lower EY. This is a funkier offering but, it's a welcome change up from some of our standard washed offerings.

Like many other African countries, Burundi coffee is often grown by smallholders, who operate small coffee farms -- essentially the size of large gardens. After harvest, they bring their coffees to the stations they belong to in order to get processed alongside many other smallholders' coffee harvests.

This lot is comprised of Bourbon coffees from 2000 members of the Bavyeyi producers group, a women-run group that works closely with JNP across several Ngozi mills to process their coffee and make this lot. It lacks a bit of lot transparency, but it ranks above average from much of Burundi export, while while representing women's empowerment and fair pay.

Bourbon is like the landrace of Burundi. It is believed to have arrived from Yemeni, named for its discovery on Bourbon Island in the 1700s. After the 19th century, it travelled mostly by missionaries across Africa and the Americas. Bourbon arrived in Burundi in the 1930s due to Belgian colonialism. However, coffee production has since become a backbone of Burundi's export. There are now many localized mutations of Bourbon, like Rwanda, that help give Burundi coffee it's own unique characteristics.

Drying naturals in Ngozi climate is brutal and painstakingly slow. Often it takes more than 45 days to completely dry. Lots need to be continuously circulated for even air and sun exposure too.

American import of Burundi coffee is tricky. There are just a few groups who export coffee to the states and 99% of them offer solely whole bags for purchase. We got to sample and hear much about what JNP does directly early in Burundi arrivals this year, but we were in no place to buy a whole bag of a coffee lot. JNP really resonated with us over some of the others and we were bummed to have to pass on a few tasty lots. This one popped up later in Burundi arrival season on Royal in a smaller quantity. It may not have been the original ones we gravitated to, but we were thrilled to get the chance to buy JNP coffee.

JNP Burundi lots are high quality but may not yet have the transparency we always seek. In our minds, they subsidize that in their passion towards their ulterior motives. Hearing how JNP, and Jeanine's non-profit, support and uplift rural Burundi is inspiring. They are heavily invested in their local community and ensure fair pay to farmers. They will even pay additional amounts to farmers as investment opportunities into community or education- focused projects. It's a commendable project built by a super intelligent woman who returned home to help uplift the community she grew up in.

Green cost: $22/kg (+$0/kg shipping)
Package and roasting costs: $2.91/bag; $10/kg
Profile and sample use: ~0.5kg
Approx. Margin: TBD (haven't recalculated on new roaster)

Resting: Wait around 35 days for peak experience (degas the night before by opening bag for about an hour). We're impatient and think this has tasted high clarity as early as 25 days after roast too.

We've primarily enjoyed this offering as a pourover and soup, but this is such beautiful coffee that is hard to do wrong by. Be careful though; it can be easier to stall than some of our other coffees due to the difference in standard roast profile.

Temperature range: 194-196°F
Water: Tap/Demineralized and Third Wave Water Light Roast
Grind Settings: Finer Coarse (500-550µm)
Target Drawdown Time: 2:30-2:45 (12g dose, with longer bloom)

2 Pour Recipe: (less likely to stall, high clarity, thinner)
1. 50g swirl bloom. Lightly swirl dripper. Wait 45-1 min.
2. Pour 150, but start light-medium agitation and flow rate while swirling. 100g in, transition to low flow rate, light agitation center pour until reaching 200g.

4 Pour Recipe: (sweeter, more intensity, more likely to stall)
1. Pour 1/4 water every 30 seconds with medium-low agitation. Swirl the dripper on the bloom.

Coffee should have moderate bypass and drain within 3 minutes total.

Drops are typically prepared in two formats: a standard 100g / 200g bag offering at your preferred roast level or as a roast experiment.

Standard bag lets you support the producer, exporter, and the project without having to buy and drink coffee you're less interested in. You still get to observe and critique our roast methods at your preferred lightness but in larger quantities.
Roast experiment lets you participate in 3 blind tastings of 60g bags to evaluate 3 different roast curves. After the drops have been released, profile info and our own sensory feedback will be shared alongside any collected feedback from tasters.

Note that roast level selection does not apply to experiments sent out.

We work as quickly as possible to roast and ship your coffee within a week of your order placement. Times vary on roaster rental availability and our limited roasting schedule. We typically roast on two subsequent days twice a month. Once your order has shipped, you will receive an email with further information. Delivery times vary on location.

Because we are selling an agricultural product with limited shelf life, we do not accept returns. However, our goal is for every customer to be absolutely satisfied with their purchase. If you aren't enjoying the experience, let us know in an Instagram DM and we'll do our best to work with you to make it right!

JNP Bavyeyi IV Natural Bourbon

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