Coffee Plantation Tours in Rwanda : Though the country of a Thousand Hills is best known for its extraordinary gorilla trekking excursions in Volcanoes National Park, there is more to this East African nation. With delicious and high-quality coffee being produced all over the nation, the nation has earned its reputation as one of the best coffee producers in the world.
Rwandan coffee shares many traits with that of other East African nations like Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia, but one distinctive feature of Rwandan brew is the silky, creamy body of every cup. The citrus sweetness and caramel aftertaste of Rwandan coffee are complemented by hints of lemon and orange blossom in the aroma.
We highly recommend taking a coffee tour and tasting as you get ready for a trip to Rwanda or one of its neighboring East African nations. When you visit our stunning continent, discover the essence of African coffee. Only two plantation tours in Rwanda will be discussed in this blog, along with what to expect from a full-bodied cup of coffee when visiting this landlocked nation’s coffee plantations.
COFFEE TOURS IN RWANDA
Visitors flying into the country should think about including coffee plantation tours in their safari plans because this crop-to-cup experience leaves them with a magical feeling and priceless memories to take back home. One of Rwanda’s largest cash crops, coffee has a 95% average yield and is regarded as the world’s best coffee thanks to its superior Arabica Varietal Bourbon, which has a silky, creamy body, hints of lemon and orange blossom, and a caramel aftertaste. This is due to the nation’s advantageous location beneath the equator, where it is situated at high altitudes in mountainous areas with rich volcanic soils that receive consistent temperatures daily. These soils provide the ideal fertile soils to grow the best-quality coffee beans. As a result, many tourists have chosen to go on Coffee Plantation Tours in Rwanda to learn about the steps, organic processes, and natural brew methods involved in producing the World’s Best Coffee.
Explore Rwanda Tours Travel Advice: Only a tour operator or the Rwanda Development Board can make reservations for Rwanda’s coffee tours. Let us know if you are interested in a coffee tour when you are planning your trip to Rwanda, and we will make all the necessary arrangements as your dependable travel expert.
KIGALI’S BEST COFFEE TOUR
Kigali, one of the most prestigious cities in Africa, is home to a thriving business sector and a thriving tourism industry. Your tour almost always includes a night in Kigali. Due to your arrival or departure flight and the connection to your next destination in Rwanda, this is always advised or included.
You can explore the Rwandan capital of Kigali during your overnight stay just as a local would. Explore the historical sites dotted throughout the city, eat at one of the many restaurants, and take part in a coffee tasting at Question Coffee.
In Gishushu, Kigali, there is a specialty coffee shop called Question Coffee. The remarkable location offers visitors a cup to go, a cup to enjoy while sitting down, or a full crop-to-cup tour of the coffee plantation and production facility.
Compared to coffee tours in Tanzania or Cape Town, Question’s Coffee tours are very different. The coffee shop provides a thorough history of the business, the coffee, and production. Your tour begins in the coffee shop’s gardens, which are situated inside a miniature coffee plantation. Both the cherry harvesting process and the eventual drying of the beans are described, and neither is for the faint of heart!
Once again, in the tasting room, the method for evaluating and tasting the coffee is described. Here, you can pick up tips on how to make the ideal grind, appreciate each flavor, and just enjoy a sip of locally brewed coffee. The tour is very engaging and instructive. After all is said and done, you not only have a newfound respect for coffee but also for the work that the Rwandan Question Coffee team does.
ATMOSPHERIC COFFEE TOURS ALONG LAKE KIVU
Coffee and tea plantations are dotted throughout the verdant hills that surround Lake Kivu. A few of the crops are accessible to tourists, but the majority are grown for local consumption or exportation. Local farmers lead tours to the coffee plantations and washing stations in Lake Kivu. These tours delve more deeply into the entire coffee-brewing process, from the very beginning to the freshly brewed cup.
The tour is very interactive, much like Question Coffee’s, and guests get to participate in the production by harvesting, sorting, grading, fermenting, drying, and roasting coffee. The tours along Lake Kivu provide an in-depth look into how Rwandan coffee is made, and as a result, they frequently last for 4 to 5 hours.
A tour of a coffee or tea plantation ought to be on your itinerary if you plan to spend a few days near Lake Kivu. If you are staying in Kigali for two nights or more, you can reserve the tours along Lake Kivu. The coffee plantations and washing stations are located a 4-hour drive from Kigali, and your travel agent can arrange a day trip there.
There are two main plantations that tourists can visit on tours along Lake Kivu. Depending on the time of year you visit Rwanda, you might see cranberry red or emerald green coffee beans at Ingoboka and Kinunu Washing Stations, which are typically included in your tour.
