Lala Salama, Rwanda | Sparkling Water Decaf

Lala Salama means 'Sleep Well' in Swahili. There couldn't be a more fitting name to bestow upon our new regular feature of Sparkling Water Decaffeinated coffee from the African continent.

This lot comes from our partners at Rwanda Trading Company, our sister company in Kigali, from the Gitega Hills, Gitwe, and Gishyita Stations.

Gitega Hills

Just 12km from neighbouring Bwenda in the Cyanika sector and slightly higher up, adjacent to a disused quartz quarry, sits Gitega Hills. Slightly larger than Bwenda, Gitega covers an area of around 6 hectares and is nearby the small town of Miko. Gitega is the name of the surrounding land cell. A cell being a smaller area within a larger sector, within a larger region or province. Established by RTC in 2016, the station has been managed since then by Alex. Everyone who works at Gitega is from the local community and Alex feels that the station plays a valuable and positive role in the area for the work it provides. Good rainfall the area experienced during the harvest pointed to great quality for the 2022 season’s yields. Gitega employs 150 people including 11 permanently, with the rest being seasonal workers. 90% are women. 1040 farmers contribute cherry to Gitega’s annual production and in 2016 they processed 400 tons of cherry. At the time of our visit they had aready hit 500 tons with the expectation to hit 700 before they stopped processing for the season. The farms all lie between 0.5km and 7km away and are serviced by 33 different cherry collection points. On average the contributing farms grow just 400 trees (1 hectare). Additionally, the station provides farmers with organic EM2 compost which consists of recycled cherry pulp from the station with some animal manure. All 1040 farmers using Gitega have completed or are current participants in the ATP.

Gitwe Station
Perhaps the station with the most revered coffees of all our Rwandan speciality lots, Gitwe is in fact the smallest washing station of all RTC's stations in the Western Province. Covering an area of less than 1 hectare, Gitwe is blessed with being situated at the top of a mountain valley at almost 2000 metres. Just 3km from Gatare and near to the town of Kamina in the Karambi sector, Gitwe is the name of the land on which the station is built. Healthy coffee trees and tropical fruit line the trail down to the station from the road above. 

Built recently in 2016 and bought by RTC in 2018 who employed 6 staff full time with the addition of 50 during the season. 90% are women. Despite being a tiny station, 1020 farmers contribute to Gitwe's annual production of 500 tons of cherry, which is all high scoring specialty quality, all of whom have received training through RTC's training program. Farm sizes range from just 150 coffee trees to 6000 (2.5 hectares). Though most farms are 2-3km from the station, many of the farmers are elderly with limited mobility and so the area is serviced by RTC through 15 cherry collection points. 

Station manager, Augustin, is from Kigali but after a period of ill health left the city in favour of the mountain air and rural environment. He left the city to manage and live near the washing station in 2018 and has not been sick since. 

Excitingly, for those like us, for whom the arrival of fresh crop from Gitwe each year is like an early Christmas present, 2023 promises to be extra special. For the 2023 season Gitwe is experimenting with producing honey processed lots for the first time and all of their production as honey is produced as black honey, with 100% of the mucilage left on the parchment.

Gitega Hills Station
Just 12km from neighbouring Bwenda, Gitega Hills covers an area of around 6ha. Established by RTC in 2016, the station has been managed since then by Alex. Everyone who works at Gitega is from the local community and the station plays a positive role in the area for the work it provides. 1040 farmers contribute cherry to Gitega’s annual production and most farms grow just 400 trees (1ha). All 1040 farmers using Gitega have completed or are current participants in the ATP.

Gishyita
Winner of ‘station with the best view’ goes to: Gishyita.  This tiny washing station, located in the Kigarama cell within the Karongi district, lies on the slope of a mountain looking west across Lake Kivu toward the hills of Congo. The station was built in 2010 when it acted as a cooperative. It was fully established as a washing station by RTC in 2018. The station employs six staff full time, with the addition of 80 seasonal workers during the season, 90% of whom are women. 
Gishyita also has one of the most impressive success stories with regard to yield quality increases. 995 local farmers rely on Gishyita for cherry processing. In the first year RTC took ownership of the station, these famers contributed a total of 187 tons of cherry. In the past 4 years, all 995 famers have been trained in yield quality optimisation of their coffee through RTC’s training program. When we visited in late May, annual production was 842 tons, an increase of 350%. Average farm size is 3 hectares with all farms within a 5km distance. Farmers are serviced by six collection points and are provided with organic compost which is produced on the station from recycled cherry pulp, with lime and molasses added to make EM2. 
In addition to its beautiful setting, Gishyita is one of the cleanest, most well-maintained sites. In addition to the view, the cool breeze coming from the lake or the evident quality of the cherry drying on the beds, it is the station manager, Providence, who made the biggest impact on us. A coffee farmer himself, Providence takes great pride in providing support for, and collaborating with, the local community of coffee farmers. 

Read more about RTC's farmer training program here: https://www.falconcoffees.com/agronomy-training-program-in-rwanda/

The Sparkling Water Process

This process was first discovered by a scientist called Kurt Zosel at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in 1967 as he was looking at new ways of separating mixtures of substances. In 1988, a German decaffeination company called CR3 developed this process for decaffeination whereby natural carbon dioxide (which comes from prehistoric underground lakes) is combined with water to create ‘sub-critical’ conditions which creates a highly solvent substance for caffeine in coffee. It is a gentle, natural and organically certified process and the good caffeine selectivity of the carbon dioxide guarantees a high retention level of other coffee components which contribute to taste and aroma.

The process is outlined below:
The green beans enter a ‘pre-treatment’ vessel where they are cleaned and moistened with water before being brought into contact with pressurised liquid carbon dioxide. When the green coffee beans absorb the water, they expand and the pores are opened resulting in the caffeine molecules becoming mobile.

After the water has been added, the beans are then brought into contact with the pressurised liquid carbon dioxide which combines with the water to essentially form sparkling water. The carbon dioxide circulates through the beans and acts like a magnet, drawing out the mobile caffeine molecules.The sparkling water then enters an evaporator which precipitates the caffeine rich carbon dioxide out of the water. The now caffeine-free water is pumped back into the vessel for a new cycle.
This cycle is repeated until the required residual caffeine level is reached. Once this has happened, the circulation of carbon dioxide is stopped and the green beans are discharged into a drier.The decaffeinated coffee is then gently dried until it reaches its original moisture content, after which it is ready for roasting.

There are several benefits to using this process for decaffeination:
The agent used for extracting the caffeine is entirely natural and the process can be classified as ‘organic’ due to the complete lack of chemicals used throughout. There is also no health risk by consuming coffee that has been decaffeinated in this way.

The way the process works means the other compounds in the green bean are left untouched, meaning decaffeination has no effect on the flavour and aroma of the finished product. The carbon dioxide is very selective and doesn’t extract the carbohydrates and proteins in the green bean which contribute to flavour and smell. The cell structure of the green bean and the finished roasted bean is unchanged which is of great advantage when working with speciality coffees. The by-products are 100% natural and recyclable.