Rwanda 1,000 Hills Natural

Inzovu is a signature blend that has helped make Rwanda Trading Company (RTC) famous on the international stage over the past decade. The name Inzovu means "elephant" in Kinyarwanda. The blend is composed of coffees from western and southern Rwanda, where coffee trees are grown at medium to high altitudes on the many hills that are a typical feature of the Rwandan landscape.

The foundation of Inzovu is a selection of coffees from various washing stations. RTC sources individual lots in parchment form and then carefully evaluates them through cupping. Based on their quality, coffees are selected to become part of the final blend. Its composition may change throughout the harvest season depending on the availability and quality of individual lots. The individual coffees are continuously selected and combined to maintain the blend's characteristic profile.

Rwanda offers very suitable conditions for coffee cultivation. Coffee trees here grow at high altitudes, in an environment with regular rainfall and volcanic soils with good organic structure. Also significant for local production is the prevalence of Bourbon varieties, which form an important part of Rwanda's coffee heritage.

The majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholder farmers. Their number is estimated at approximately half a million, and individual families often farm plots of less than one hectare. Coffee is grown in a large part of the country, with the areas around Lake Kivu and the Southern Province being among the most significant.

Smallholder farmers often join cooperatives and use shared central washing stations for processing. These serve as important hubs for receiving and processing coffee from many surrounding farmers. Thanks to this system, farmers can benefit from shared infrastructure while ensuring quality control for the processing of individual deliveries.

In Rwanda, flowering typically occurs between September and October, and the main harvest follows from March to July. Exports of the new harvest usually begin in August and continue through December.

Inzovu thus represents a blend composed of carefully selected coffees from many smallholder farmers across different parts of Rwanda. Its composition may change during the season depending on the availability and quality of individual lots, with the goal of preserving the characteristic profile of Rwandan coffee.