BackStory — Burundi

Featured the week of June 8, 2026 — rated 9.8/10 by our tasting team.

We are incredibly excited to drop this week’s feature into your hoppers—an absolute gem of a washed coffee coming to us from Backstory Coffee Roasters: the Burundi Gakenke.

Sourced from the lush highlands of Kayanza in northern Burundi, this coffee represents the collective hard work of over 2,660 smallholder farmers. Cultivated between 1650–1950 MASL, these farmers grow beautiful Bourbon varietal coffee alongside sustaining crops like bananas, yams, and cassava on micro-plots that are often just a quarter-acre in size. What makes this lot so incredibly special is the meticulous processing at the legendary Gakenke Washing Station. It undergoes a rigorous multi-stage washing process—including a 12-hour dry fermentation, multiple mountain water soaks, and careful density sorting—before being dried on raised beds. The result is a cup of astonishing clarity and sweetness on our cupping table!

When you dial this one in, the Bourbon varietal’s renowned sweetness is front and center. Expect a beautifully silky, elegant mouthfeel right out of the gate. The acidity here is delightfully tart and malic, hitting the palate with a crisp, vibrant note of fresh green apple. As the cup cools and opens up, it transitions into deeper, darker fruit notes of ripe plum and sweet raisin, all anchored by a rich, deeply comforting finish of caramelized burnt sugar.

Process: washed • Elevation: 9.8

Written by the Angels' Cup tasting team.