The Story Behind Our Burundi Beans

The Ninga community is far beyond the reach of electricity. Even the glass bottles of Coca-Cola that usually find their way into tiny roadside shops are difficult to find on Ninga. Coffee trees occupy any space they can on this hill from the edge of the single-track dirt paths that weave through the hills to the doorsteps of farmers’ self-made mud-brick houses. With every violent conflict that has broken out in Burundi, Ninga farmers have scattered into the surrounding hills and forest areas with no established place of refuge to run to. During these times the coffee trees have stood alone, waiting for their owners to return.

Many decades later, farmers return home and try to combat the effects that years of neglect have had on their land. Yet, Ninga Hill produces elegant and complex coffees, with flavors that are layered and not at all muddled. Our commitment to working more closely with this Hill has never been stronger. Ninga Hill is also the location of the third Long Miles Coffee washing station. We bought a piece of land 10km from our Bukeye Washing Station, flanked by the Nkokoma river. In 2019, we cleared the land and constructed traditional African-raised drying tables in the hope of seeing Ninga Washing Station built to completion in time for the next coffee harvest. For the past two seasons, Ninga Station has produced truly stunning coffees.