We are excited to introduce this limited release decaffeinated coffee from the Butihinda Washing Station, located in the Muyinga region of northern Burundi. Butihinda is owned and operated by Angèle Ciza, a Burundian woman who has worked in the coffee industry for 25 years! In 2012, Angèle purchased several washing stations with the intention of combatting poverty by providing local producers with training and increasing the quality of their coffee. Angèle’s company, Kalico, also invests in environmental protection and education, including a scholarship program that pays school fees for young girls. This coffee is the result of a collaboration between Kalico, Phyllis Johnson of BD Imports, and RGC Importers called Rotheca Project. The initiative was organized to support women-producers, who own or manage 80% of Kailco’s partner farms.

The Butihinda Washing Station was built in 1992 and is one of seven washing stations owned and operated by Kalico throughout Burundi’s northeastern provinces. Water from nearby Roshombo Mountain is used to process the coffee of approximately 1,400 smallholder farmers. Decaf Burundi Butihinda demonstrates the quality of coffee Burundi has to offer, and exemplifies the leadership of Angèle and the hard work of her producing partners. 

This coffee was decaffeinated using the Swiss Water Process of caffeine extraction, without the use of chemical solvents. The coffee soaks in a ͞green coffee extract that coaxes caffeine out of the beans while leaving much of the original flavor intact. The extract then pass through activated carbon filters that remove the caffeine. This process continues until the beans are 99.9% caffeine free.