Shyira Geisha

An extremely limited lot of washed Geisha from Muraho's Shyira station in Nyabihu. This washed lot has a clear citrus acidity, backed up by a characterful honey sweetness, while the typical heavy Rwandan aromatics are lifted to bright and crisp jasmine.

The Shyira Coffee Washing Station (CWS) is the highest altitude of the Muraho stations, located in the northern Nyabihu district. Shyira’s remote location also means it is the smallest station; a big driver in the decision to build here was the greater impact that Muraho could have on the very rural population. Here, their genuine drive for social change led to a focus on access to speciality coffee knowledge, and importantly pricing.

Over the past couple of harvests, Shyira has consistently produced our favourite lots out of Rwanda. The weather conditions here are perfect for both production and processing, the volcanic soils are healthy, and of course the high altitude leads to slow maturing, sugar-rich cherries. These conditions gave rise to the idea of testing different varietals here, a study in the effect of Rwandan terroir on well-known and characterful varietals from elsewhere in the coffee belt. These rare varietals were introduced to the Shyira nursery in 2018, and seedlings were taken to a small model plot nearby shortly afterward.

This means the team at Shyira have full control over the fertilisation, pruning, harvest and processing of the cherished Geisha fruit.