Lake Kivu Freshly Roasted Coffee

Citrus | Toffee | Tangy

DR Congo | Organic | Fair Trade | Women-Producers

Sometimes light roast coffee gets a bad rep. "Blech, it's too acidic." "Gross, it's so sour." 
Lake Kivu is here to prove the haters wrong. 

We roast this on the lighter side of medium to showcase the brightness and bring out the sweet and smooth side. Why dull a sparkle when it's meant to shine? And Lake Kivu sure does shine. A little tart, pleasantly sweet, complex, it's one of our favorite coffees to roast with a lighter touch and it might just be one of your favorite coffees to drink. 

Lake Kivu is an Organic and Fair Trade Certified coffee grown by 3,546 women farm owners/farm managers. 

Kivu is an area in DRC nearly destroyed by the Congo civil war and the Rwanda Genocide. The resulting economic collapse led many coffee farmers to smuggle their coffee to nearby Rwanda to get food and other necessary supplies due to low coffee prices in the Congo. In 2002 SOPACDI or the Solidarite Paysanne la Promotion de Actions Café et Development Integras was formed, recognizing that the bridge from strife to success could be coffee.

The first international coffee buyer came in 2008. Now made up of 5200 members in total, who received support through innovative programs established by SOPACDI and outside programs find buyers for their coffee internationally. Over 20% of the co-op members are women.

This coffee, Lake Kivu, comprises 3,546 women smallholder farmer members who live in the Kalehe territory of DRC in South Kivu, with an average farm size of 1.7 acres who deliver the coffee in cherry form to the mill.