Burundi Masenga Hill

Region: Bujumbura Altitude: 1,700 m.a.s.l. Variety: Red Bourbon Processing: Washed

UK Arrival: April 2026

Tasting Notes: Generously fruity, led by vibrant cherry and raspberry, layered with florals and vanilla notes. A white sugar sweetness balances complex single-origin chocolate, all carried by a smooth, buttery body.

After cupping through samples from Burundi this year we couldn’t pick just one so we bought both this washed process lot and a natural process lot. It’s a great opportunity to taste both processing methods side-by-side and discover their impact on the final cup. Here you’ll find layers of florals, well structured fruitiness and high sweetness. This lot turns out to be a favourite of Zephryn, a Q grader in charge of quality control in Migoti, who is a good friend of Ludwika from when she worked alongside him a few years ago. 

Eighty-one smallholders contributed to this lot, including lead farmers Damien Baransamaje and Ernest Habonimana. After harvesting, the farmers sold their cherries to Migoti Hill Coffee Company, who processed them at their washing station. Here, the coffee cherries were sorted, fermented for 24 hours, then pulped and washed. Next, the coffee was pre-dried on tables in the shade for five days, before being moved into the sun to dry fully on raised beds, which takes two to three weeks.

This coffee was brought to us by Omwani Coffee Company, who we recently interviewed in our Importer Series. We’ve been buying from Omwani since we first met in 2019, and have been endlessly impressed by both their commitment to their producer partners and the high quality coffee that they import.

About Migoti

Founded in 2015 by engineers Pontien Ntunzwenimana and Dan Brose, Migoti Coffee aims to improve the livelihoods of local coffee farmers by connecting them with international buyers and roasters through quality processing and transparent supply chains. The company operates two coffee washing stations, Kinama Hill and Migoti Hill, nestled in the mountains of the Bujumbura Rural Province and works with a growing number of smallholder farmers to produce high quality coffee.

Prior to 2015, the multi-generational coffee farmers in Pontien’s home community had all but abandoned coffee as a source of income due to the 12-year civil war, during which their Arabica coffee trees were neglected and destroyed. Another challenge was the great distance between their small farms and washing stations, which meant farmers had to dry coffee naturally on their farms. Their lack of equipment and training in quality control meant that the coffee they produced lost a lot of value. Crucially, they also didn’t have access to the specialty market, where the true value of their coffee could be realised.

Today, Migoti has 10 full time employees and hires an additional 250 seasonal workers to manage the busy harvest period. They’re assigned into teams that manage the different stages of processing: 

Cherry collection, where cherries are weighed, floated, and grouped together depending on grade and the hill they come from;

Pulping, where floated cherries are run through the pulping machines. Fermentation, where cherries are separated into vats and left to ferment for different periods of time according to what process their lot has been assigned;

Washing, where fermented coffee gets pushed through the grading channels and its mucilage rinsed away;

Pre-drying, where coffee is spread out to dry in the shade for 2 to 3 days while being rigorously sorted;

Main drying, where coffee is laid out to dry under the sun, getting covered at night or when rain is due. Teams here carry out further sorting while turning the coffee regularly;

Quality control, where coffee gets cupped on a regular basis, checking that every lot is up to standards. An extra group is also stationed at the dry mill Migoti uses. These team members oversee Migoti’s coffee as it is hulled and sorted again before being bagged for export.

In order to make sure

The Burundi Masenga Hill from Steampunk Coffee sources this washed lot from Migoti Hill Coffee Company in the Bujumbura region of Burundi. Built on the classic Red Bourbon varietal, this coffee balances bright stone fruit with deeper cocoa undertones. The roaster identifies layered notes of cherry and raspberry framed by florals and vanilla, with a smooth, buttery body underpinned by white sugar sweetness and chocolate. Washed-process coffees from this origin typically emphasize clarity and balance, making this a versatile choice for those seeking both brightness and textural refinement in a single cup.