The Simbi coffee washing station is located in the Huye district of Rwanda’s Southern Province. Simbi is a privately owned washing station operated by Abdul, who was inspired to get into the coffee business by his grandmother. She was also a coffee farmer and one the few rural Rwandan that roasted and enjoyed her own coffee as part of her daily routine. The washing station was built in 2011 and 2012. 2013 was the first season and they started with 85 people working – 80% of them women.
In 2013 they first paticipated in Rwanda Cup of Excellence and became 9th of 159 samples!

Coffee growing in Rwanda
Despite the tragedies of genocide and civil war which shook the world in 1994, Rwanda is an incredibly beautiful and culturally rich nation which also produces exceptionally good coffee. In Rwanda coffee has brought hope for a better future since those dark days and the country is now rightly heralded as a top producer of fine specialty coffee.
Rwanda is blessed with ideal coffee growing conditions that include high altitude, regular rainfall, volcanic soils with good organic structure and an abundance of Bourbon coffee trees. The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholders often not much larger than just one hectare per family.