Mutana

The Long Miles Coffee Project

The Long Miles Project, founded by Ben and Kristy Carlson, began work in 2013, aiming to raise the bar of specialty coffees coming out of Burundi. The project works with more than 5,000 individual coffee farmers living near three central washing stations, Bukeye, Heza, and Ninga. 

There are several reasons why producing speciality coffee in Burundi is an incredibly difficult task. There’s the incredibly unstable political situation, where government can change rules on coffee prices and value chain seemingly overnight, the practical challenge of being a small landlocked country attempting to export coffee by sea freight, the constant threat of unrest. Through it all the Carlson family have managed to establish themselves as producers and exporters of consistently delicious coffees, all the while providing some semblance of stability to the lives of smallholder farmers that surround their washing stations.

Mutana

The hills of Mutana are a never-ending tapestry of green, possessing breathtaking panoramic views. The edge of the Kibira Forest is only a couple of kilometers away, allowing cool mists to fall onto farmers’ fields daily, slowing cherry maturation. The fertile sandy soils of Mutana seem to grow everything; nitrogen-fixing peas and beans, passion fruit and tea are all grown alongside coffee.

Coffee farmers from the Mutana hill deliver to Long Miles’ Heza station. Heza sits at 1960 masl, so harvest normally starts around two weeks later here than at the lower altitude Bukeye station. Heza was built in January 2014, and now serves nearly 2,000 individual farmers. Heza also helps local farmers by supplying trees from a coffee tree nursery with over 15,000 seedlings.

All La Cabra coffees are roasted for both filter and espresso.