Espresso: Burundi Masha washed

The Masha is now also available on espresso. We had the Masha before, it is a well-known name in the industry. Masha comes from the word ‘amasho’ meaning ‘herds of cattle’, after the hill they reside on. Fresh cherry is pulped within 6hrs after delivery and fermented for 12hrs before drying. The coffee has notes of red berries, melon and a maple syrupy mouthfeel in the end.

The station’s name may be inspired by the abundance of cattle in the region, but Masha Washing Station knows coffee. Over 1,128 farmers deliver their cherry to the station and thanks to excellent quality control on farms and at the station, the resulting coffee is juicy, clean and full-bodied.

Masha coffee washing station shares its name with the sub-hill upon which it stands. The sub-hill is actually more famous for its cattle than its coffee. The name Masha comes from the Kirundi word “amasho”, meaning “herds of cattle”. The sub-hill has been a crossroad for many herds in the region. Many of the local herders greet each other with a unique phrase only used in this region. They say, “gira amasho”, which means “owner of cows”.  

Masha station was built in 1989. The majority of farmers who deliver cherry are subsistence farmers. Farmers intercrop their trees with food crops and other cash crops to feed and support their families.  

During the harvest season, all coffee is selectively hand-picked. Most families only have 200 to 250 trees, and harvesting is done almost entirely by the family. Quality assurance begins as soon as farmers deliver their cherry. Cherries are wet-processed under constant supervision. The pulping, fermentation time, washing, grading in the channels and a final soaking are all closely monitored. All cherry is floated in small buckets as a first step to check quality. After floating, the higher quality cherry is sorted again by hand to remove all damaged, underripe and overripe cherries.   

After sorting, cherry is pulped within 6 hours of delivery. The machine can process up to 3 tons of cherry per hour. During pulping, cherry is separated in to high- and low-grade by density on a Mackinon 3-disc pulper outfitted with an additional separation disk.  The coffee is dry fermented for up to 12 hours and then washed in clean water and soaked for 12 to 24 hours.  Parchment is then soaked for an additional 12 to 18 hours before being dried on raised beds for 2 to 3 weeks. Masha station has around 170 drying beds and can process up to 750MT per year.