D. R. CONGO UMOJA #1197

Local Seattle roaster Boon Boona is known for their stellar African coffees — it's all they do — and their sourcing philosophy is all about empowering small, coffee-growing producers and their communities. It's rare to find a coffee like this from Congo, where local farmers have succeeded, against all odds, in overcoming political and environmental challenges to produce an amazing product. Kivu sits on the Eastern edge of Congo, bordering coffee-producing areas of Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, where the climate is ideal for coffee and altitudes reach up to 2,000 meters. Although coffee from this region can be as nuanced and flavorful as Guatemalans, or Ethiopians, getting our hands on it here in the U.S. is no easy feat. This lot comes from the Umoja Cooperative, as a curated community lot that blends top-quality beans from over 1000 individual small farmers. Boon Boona acquired this coffee through Mighty Peace, a progressive company (part-Congolese owned, woman-run) who has been changing the game by easing some of the structural issues that make coffee from this region difficult and costly to export.

Congolese coffee is a real sleeper hit of the specialty arena — we're overjoyed to see the world waking up (literally and figuratively!) to how amazing it can be. Honey-smooth, intensely sweet, and full of sunny citrus flavors, Boon Boona's Congo Umoji was a great surprise on my cupping table, and it's bound to be a hit on your breakfast table. Trust me: no need for sugar in this cup, it brings its own. Reserve a bag today, for yourself or your sweetie, and enjoy this buzzworthy cup from one of specialty coffee's most hard-to-find, and delicious, single origins.