Like the Burundi coffees we like best, this Masha is sweet, clean and juicy, with notes of caramel and lots of berries. The acidity is smooth and mellow. It has a balanced body and a long aftertaste of milk chocolate and dried fruit.
The Washed station of Masha shares its name with the hill on which it is located. This area is more famous for its cattle than for its coffee. The name Masha comes from the Kirundi word "amasho", meaning "herds of cattle". This hill has been a crossroads for many herds in the region.
The Masha station was built in 1989. Most of the farmers who deliver cherries are subsistence farmers. Farmers grow trees intertwined with food and other cash crops to feed and support their families.
Process
During the harvest season, all coffee is selectively harvested by hand. Most families have only 200-250 trees, and harvesting is done almost exclusively by the family.
Quality assurance begins as soon as the farmers deliver their cherries. The cherries are wet processed under constant supervision. Pulping, fermentation time, Washed, sorting into carcasses and a final soaking are closely monitored. All cherries are floated in small buckets as a first step to verify quality. After floating, the highest quality cherries are hand sorted again to remove all damaged, green and over-ripe cherries.
After sorting, the cherries are pulped within 6 hours of delivery.
The machine can process up to 3 tons of cherries per hour. During pulping, the cherries are separated into high and low grades by density in a 3-disc Mackinon disc pulper equipped with an additional separating disc. The coffee is dry fermented for up to 12 hours and then washed in clean water and soaked for 12 to 24 hours.
The parchment is then soaked for an additional 12 to 18 hours before being dried on raised beds for 2 to 3 weeks. The Masha station has about 170 drying beds and can process up to 750 metric tons per year.
When replicating the recipe, there are different variables that can interfere in the final result of your cup, such as roasting date, conservation of the beans, environment, water, etc. It is important to keep in mind that all these factors may influence and you may have to make small adjustments when replicating this recipe.
Method: V60
Mill: Fellow Ode to number 6II
Recommended mineral water: Lanjarón
We used 15 grams of coffee per 260 grams of water. at a temperature of 96º.
We add the water in 2 pours. First pour 60 grams, wait 30 seconds and then pour the rest of the water until we reach 260 grams. The total infusion time should be 2:55 minutes, achieving with this recipe a TDS of 1.27% and an extraction percentage of 20.90%.
