Musaza Lot 3 – Rwanda Natural Red Bourbon
This Rwanda natural Red Bourbon coffee from Rwamatamu offers a fruit-forward and complex cup, ideal for both filter and espresso brewing.
Flavour Characteristics
**Best As: **Filter Coffee / Black Espresso Drinks Flavour Description: Tangerine, Apricot, Grapefruit, Honey, Black Tea
Origin & Producer Details
Producer: Laetitia & Gaston
Washing Station: Mbare, Rwamatamu
Origin: Rwanda
Region: Lake Kivu, Nyamasheke
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Natural
Importer: Omwani
Recommended Rest
For the best tasting brew of this specialty coffee from Rwanda, we'd suggest enjoying this coffee when it is 22–48 days off roast — we wrote a blog on this here (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/blogs/blog/resting-coffee).
About Rwamatamu Coffee
Founded in 2015, Rwamatamu Coffee is a family-owned and operated business that aims to combat poverty by generating employment opportunities within the local community.
The estate spans 20 hectares of coffee farmland, where it grows its own crops and sources cherries from affiliated co-operatives, local producers, and smallholder farmers. After being meticulously processed, sun-dried, sorted, and packaged, these cherries are exported as a premium product.
Location and Growing Conditions
Rwamatamu’s coffee farm and washing station are located in the Western province of Rwanda, where the landscape consists of picturesque rolling hills flanked around Lake Kivu in Nyamasheke District.
This region provides a tropical highland climate with an average temperature of 14 to 24 c and regular rainfall. This makes arabica coffee to flourish and result in a dense, hard bean with superior coffee flavour.
The farm is positioned on 1600 up to 2000 meters altitude, on a rich volcanoes soil. The harvest season is January to March.
Processing and Quality
Coffee from Rwamatamu is sun dried and handpicked to a high standard. Currently they are in the process of gaining their organic and fair-trade certifications. They work to have a positive social and economic impact on farmer communities, focusing on women in particular.
The People Behind Rwamatamu
Husband and wife duo, Rutaganda Gaston and Mukantwaza Laetitia, established Rwamatamu Coffee to support their family. Throughout their children's upbringing, they were actively involved in the estate's operations. Daughter Marie Bernice was especially engaged in tasks like facilitating negotiations, creating educational materials, and managing marketing documents.
Community and Impact
Rwamatamu work together with cooperatives of coffee farmers who live in the area. 80% of their employees are women. Their goal is to build healthy relationships with the community based on common values and goals. This is done by committing to a regular purchase of beans and investing in the growth of employees. They also commit to a set standard of quality each year. This is the fifth harvest in a row that we have worked with Rwamatamu, and it's a joy to have these coffees on our offer list once again!
Our Relationship With Rwamatamu
Rwamatamu’s coffees are really special ones for us to release.
Firstly, they always seem to up their game year on year, with brighter, fruitier and more floral coffees than the previous years, with improved irrigation, sorting, screen separating and other farm practices.
But secondly, because they’re astoundingly great people.
Bernice and Luke use to live very close to us in York, which is how we first met. Over the course of several months, we developed a great friendship which would lead to us hanging out on a regular basis; going to the local climbing gym, meeting for coffees, house parties, surprise visits to the roastery etc. In spite of their busy schedule, they always made time for us.
It was a bittersweet moment when Bernice and Luke moved back to Rwanda to take on more responsibility at the farm-level operations from Bernice’s parents (Laetitia and Gaston). But on the bright side, it has given us a very good excuse to travel out to Rwanda!
We’re in regular cahoots with Bernice and the Rwamatamu team, and always get very excited when it’s time to taste - and that time is now.
This coffee is a great example of how processing influences flavour — you can learn more in our coffee processing guide (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/blogs/blog/coffee-processing-guide).
How to Brew This Coffee
Because this coffee is expressive and fruit-forward, accurate dose and yield help you hit the sweet spot. We strongly recommend using a reliable scale — see our guide, The Best Coffee Scales (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/blogs/blog/the-best-coffee-scales-2025), and our bench favourite, the Felicita Parallel (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/products/felicita-parallel-white).
Brewing Tips
Rest window: Follow the recommended 22–48 days off roast for best clarity, flavour intensity and balance.
Filter brewing: Start with a 1:16–1:17 ratio and a medium-fine grind, adjusting to balance florals and fruit intensity.
Espresso: We have enjoyed this coffee best at between 1:2 - 1:2.2, brewed in about 30 seconds, where we achieve lots of jam-like characteristics and a syrupy body.
Best recipe: Orea v4, 16g coffee, 250g water, 2:30 brew time. I'm using a higher dose than usual on this coffee because it gives up its soluble material very easily, so we can get heaps of body out of this brew.
Explore More Recipes
To try out more recipes from world-class coffee brewers, we've compiled this blog (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/blogs/blog/best-pourover-recipes), featuring the best filter coffee recipes of 2026 from some of the world's best filter coffee brewers.
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Browse our single-origin coffees (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/collections/our-coffee)
Check Out More of Our Collections
Espresso coffee beans collection (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/collections/great-espresso-coffees)
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Check Out Some of Our Guides
A complete beginner's guide to coffee processing methods (https://www.harmonycoffee.co.uk/blogs/blog/coffee-processing-guide)
FAQs
What does Rwanda natural Red Bourbon coffee taste like?
Rwanda natural Red Bourbon coffees are typically fruit-forward and expressive. In this lot, you can expect vibrant citrus notes like tangerine and grapefruit, layered with apricot sweetness, honeyed body and a clean black tea finish.
What is Red Bourbon coffee?
Red Bourbon is a classic Arabica coffee variety known for its sweetness, balance and clarity. It is widely grown in Rwanda and is highly regarded for producing complex, high-quality specialty coffees.
What does natural process coffee mean?
Natural process coffee is dried inside the whole cherry, allowing the fruit to interact with the seed during drying. This typically results in more intense fruit flavours, heavier body and a more fermentation-forward profile compared to washed coffees.
Is this coffee better for filter or espresso?
This coffee performs exceptionally well for both. As a filter coffee, it highlights clarity, citrus brightness and tea-like structure. As espresso, it becomes richer and more syrupy, with deeper sweetness and jam-like fruit characteristics.
How long should I rest this coffee before brewing?
We recommend resting this coffee for 22–48 days after roasting. This allows the flavours to fully develop, resulting in better balance, clarity and overall cup quality.
Where is this coffee grown?
This coffee is grown in the Nyamasheke District of Rwanda, near Lake Kivu. The region’s high altitude, rich volcanic soil and consistent climate contribute to the coffee’s density and complex flavour profile.
Who are Rwamatamu Coffee?
Rwamatamu Coffee is a family-owned coffee producer in Rwanda, founded by Laetitia and Gaston. They focus on high-quality coffee production while creating employment opportunities and supporting local farming communities.
Why does this coffee have citrus and fruit flavours?
The fruit-forward flavour profile comes from both the Red Bourbon variety and the natural processing method. During drying, the coffee remains in contact with the fruit, allowing sugars and compounds to influence the final taste.
What does a natural process do to coffee flavour?
Natural processing enhances sweetness, body and fruit intensity. It often produces coffees with more vibrant, wine-like or tropical fruit characteristics compared to cleaner, more delicate washed coffees.
Is this a high-quality specialty coffee?
Yes. This coffee is produced with careful attention to picking, processing and sorting, and comes from a respected Rwandan producer known for consistency and quality in specialty coffee.
