Anyone that followed the link to Sarah Kluths tasting notes within our recent post about Intelligentsia coffee announcing their shipment of Ikirezi, Burundi coffee for the club shipment in February, will understand Sarah’s passion and commitment to Direct Trade. What you may not get is “the rest of the story”, so we asked Sarah what was special about her recent trip to Burundi, here is what she had to say:
Hmmm… Burundi
A highlight of mine was interacting with the spirit of the Burundi people. I did some work for USAID, providing a one-week course for cuppers. Their passion for learning was undeniable and their willingness to understand and embrace the specialty coffee movement was inspiring. So often, you run into people who’ve been working in an industry for ages and their experience and tenure results in a resistance to change rather than a proclivity for innovation. These cuppers expressed nothing but sheer pleasure at learning more about the intimate details of cupping, roasting and production as well as ways in which they could provide improvements in their own cooperatives, washing stations or Sogestals. Although the Burundian government may be in the beginning stages of cultivating an environment suitable for specialty coffee, its producers aren’t. They are as passionate as ever and are ready to do what it takes.
