"Upon grounding, the dry aroma is strawberry, mango and cranberry. At first sip the main flavours are very intense which consists of strawberry, mango, candied pineapple and peach flavours. In the mid section, the aroma of orange peel and dried cranberry. The coffee is very sweet and juicy."

Fugi are among the highly sought after coffee from Rwanda. It is owned by Emmanuel Rusatira a well known coffee processor from Rwanda. After 17 years in the business, Emmanuel owns 10 washing station throughout Rwanda.

Fugi washing station is located in the southern province of Nyaruguru district. Before 2019, they have only been producing, washed, honey and natural processing. In 2019 they began experimenting coffee with fermentation process. Combining the local touch of processing and destined for the world market, the method that they do the processing the coffee has created a unique flavour that is uncommon for local consumption but is well received for the international market.

Farms located in Fugi washing station sits at an altitude of 1750masl. In 2021, approximately 950 smallholders farmer provided cherries to Fugi washing station. On average, each farmer owns approximately 600 hundred coffee trees. Per tree will produce around 3kg per season. All of the farmers in the area produce coffee of a red bourboun variety, which is the main common variety that is produced in Rwanda.

When the cherries arrived at the washing station, the coffee is first sorted. Red cherries are paid at a premium. Any physical defect on the cherries is removed. The coffee is then soaked in a tank where the floaters are removed and to be used for further processing for the lower grade coffee. The higher grade coffee is then separated for the depulping process.

What we have here is a very unique coffee processing method which is known as the Intango processing. The process is an ancient process of producing an alcoholic beverage known as the Sorghum beer, a beer which is made out of banana. Uniquely, a banana skin contains high sugar value and it is used as a median for fermentation. What is important in the Intango process is the passive cooling system. This is where a large clay barrel is used to maintain temperature throughout the fermentation process. For this process, the coffee is not fermented with banana. The depulped cherries is mixed with water that came from the depulper as it contains high sugar level from the cherries mucilage. Due to the barrel made of clay, it does not absorb heat and fermentation process are slower as the clay provide a stable temperature throughout the fermentation process. This lot is fermented for 100 hours. After the fermentation process, the coffee is spread out on drying beds and turned every 2 hours until it reached 12.5% moisture level. After that, coffee is rested a before it is hulled.

Variety : Red Bourbon
Altitude : 1750 masl
Process : Intango 100hrs
Origin : Nyaruguru