The Coffee Experience
A journey through Mihunga village, where mountain mist meets the steady grind of heritage.
Damp Air and Dark Volcanic Soil.
The air in Mihunga at six in the morning is damp. You can hear the Mubuku River from the village. It is a steady, heavy sound that follows you as you walk up the slopes toward the start of the Central Circuit.
The ground here is dark volcanic soil. It sticks to the soles of your boots, especially after the afternoon rains that characterize the Rwenzori. This is the nutrient-rich foundation for every bean we harvest.
Growing and Harvesting in the Shade.
Most of the coffee grows between 1,500 and 2,000 meters. It isn’t a plantation in the way people imagine. It is a scattered collection of trees tucked under the broad leaves of matooke plants.
The shade is thick and the air underneath the canopy feels five degrees cooler than in the open patches of sun.
The Picker’s Discipline
“Harvesting is slow. You look for the cherries that are a deep, uniform red. If you pick a green one, the coffee tastes thin and grassy. If it is too dark, it is fermented and sour. You spend hours reaching into branches, fingers stained with sticky sap.”
Visual Chronicles
Capturing the life cycle of the bean
The Processing Steps
“A rhythm of grinding and the scent of fermenting fruit.”
The Pulper
A manual machine loud with rhythmic grinding. Red skins fly out one side; white, slimy beans fall into the bucket.
Fermentation
Beans sit in water for twenty hours. The smell is sharp, like fermenting fruit, as the mucilage breaks down.
The Wash
Washed in cold mountain water until they feel like small, clean pebbles in your hands.
Sun Drying
Spread on mesh beds. If rain rolls off the peaks, everyone runs to cover the parchment with plastic sheets.
“If the parchment gets wet again, it rots. When it is dry, it sounds like dry leaves when you run your hands through it.”
The Ritual of Roasting & Grinding.
The way we drink it in the hills is different. A heavy iron pot is placed over three stones. The fire is fed with small sticks of wood.
The green beans go in and you stir them with a wooden stick. They turn yellow, then light brown, then a dark mahogany that looks oily in the firelight.
“The grinding is the hardest part. The roasted beans go into a large wooden mortar. You use a heavy wooden pestle to crush them. It is a dull, thudding sound that you hear coming from different houses throughout the morning.”
We boil the coarse powder in a kettle and drink it black. It tastes like the earth it grew in, a bit smoky and very strong.
Community Impact & Economic Reality.
In the villages near the trail, coffee is the difference between a house with a grass roof and one with iron sheets. It pays for school fees and for the small solar panels that provide light in the evenings.
Strategic Partnerships
We are looking to move past middle-men. We need partners for technical logistics: solar driers, better pulpers to reduce the physical load on families, and buyers who want to trade directly with the people who grow the crop.
Taste the Earth
It Grew In.
If you want to walk through these farms and see the process for yourself, we are ready to guide you.