Every few months we love to change up our Special Reserve coffee to expose our friends and fans to some totally new, totally special beans. Our Special Reserve is exclusively available at the Stringbean stand at our local Farmer’s Markets, so come on out to say hello and pick up a bag of this seasons’s reserve! You can find us Thursday at the Wash U. Medical School Market, and Saturdays at Creve Coeur and Delmar Loop in U. City.
For this summer’s Stringbean Special Reserve, we’re selling freshly roasted beans from the Abakunda Kawa Rushashi women’s coffee cooperative in Rwanda. You’ll find this medium roast Special Reserve to have a sweet, nutty finish and medium bodied flavor that’s perfect for everyday drinking. Even better, the coop has an amazing story, and each bag you buy helps support the strong women behind the beans.
The Abakunda Kawa Rushashi coop is located in Rwanda, and is made up of Hutu and Tutsi widows from the Rwandan war of the early 1990s. These woman have created a powerful collaboration that both heals the wounds of civil war while building sustainability and financial independence. Started in 2004 in the mountainous region of the Gakenke district, the coop became a part of the international Café Femenino program in 2009. In 2011, the first batch of coffee arrived in the U.S., and, in late 2013, Stringbean Coffee received part of the second batch ever produced.
This coop grows, harvests, washes, and exports their coffee to the United States, and we’re proud to partner with these women on the ground floor to help them rebuild their community through coffee cultivation. We’re proud to report that the beans from the Abakunda Kawa Rushashi coop is Fair Trade Certified™, and the women are also working to receive their Organic Certification as well.
We look forward to working with the Abakunda Kawa Rushashi coop in the future, and we encourage you to come out and pick up a bag of Stringbean Special Reserve to show your support, too!
Peace.
CC