The Glorious Cup of Bukalasi Coffee
It was 2015 when we decided that trusting third party coffee companies’ certifications was simply not good enough. It was then that we first met coffee farmers who were producing coffee that ultimately was labeled “Fair Trade”, but were nevertheless being exploited by middle-men, cooperatives, and exporters. This isn’t to say that all Fair Trade Certified coffee is exploitative. It just was for the farmers we knew, and their stories were too much for us to ignore. We took immediate action to develop cooperative groups of farmers and to guarantee them good prices and ongoing training and equipment. Today, all Endiro coffee is produced by farmers who own their own land and who are members of one of our farming cooperatives.
The first success story was a group of some 200 women that came together in the Ugandan village of Bukalasi, Bududa District. Now after several seasons, Bukalasi has become our flagship coffee. Every cup is delicious and produced by farmers that are well-paid. Moreover, the farm operations are very eco-friendly. Electricity is solar. Water is 100% sustainable. Growing methods are organic. The local wildlife is flourishing. And, all up and down the tree-to-cup coffee chain, lives are being changed in amazing ways.
Now, let’s break down the coffee:
UGANDA BUDUDA BUKALASI - THE COFFEE FACTS
Species: Coffea Arabica
Processing Method: Fully Washed
Growing Altitude: 1750-1860 meters (5800-6097 feet)
Tasting Notes from our Master Roaster:
“When I drink our Bukalasi coffee, I find it to have a medium body - like fruit juice in mouthfeel. I tend to describe the flavor as round. That is, not sharply acidic. I taste fruit, not like citrus but rather like stone fruit - even dried stone fruit. It reminds me of dried cherries or cranberries. There is also a kind of nuttiness that I find that similar to walnuts. It’s earthy, but a sweet earthy. The finish of the coffee is sort of floral and herbal - think lavender or maybe a touch of sweet basil. Occasionally, I get a very slight spicy note at the end. I don’t always taste that spice, but when I do it makes me think of American Thanksgiving - allspice, nutmeg, pumpkin pie. Just to be clear, none of those things are actually in the coffee and we don’t add artificial flavors. This is just a way of describing the flavor features of this particular coffee. It’s really a delicious coffee and I love drinking it as a pour over early in the morning with a mandazi while sitting on my back porch in Kampala.”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO DRINK ENDIRO’S BUKALASI COFFEE?
