Burundi - Giku Hill Natural [Auction Lot]

Tasting notes

In the roaster’s words

This is our first year participating in the Long Miles Coffee Project private auction. During the season, every day cherry is delivered to the stations with hill level separation - and these lots are continually evaluated for quality throughout the season. The auction sees the very best of the harvest - tiny day lots - separated out and sold directly to roasters, returning a higher premium directly to Long Miles. This is the very best of Giku hill, and it’s a banger Brew Guide: Best Brewed with: Filter Lightest Roaster Influence: We nearly always roast coffees with a blank reference screen, starting fresh - but in this instance, we used the last Giku natural lot as a ref. This day lot wanted to run a little slower (marginally higher moisture content) - but we found we liked the result. Bright and jammy Best Rested: 4+ weeks Filter: 62g/L, 94°C when fresh; 90°C when rested Espresso: Turbos - 18g to 46g in 22 - 26s. Excellent as espresso. We're tasting: Big yellow fruit aromatics - pomelo rind and yellow plum, alongside summer berries. In the cup it's creamy and sweet - we find a ripe strawberry note alongside slightly lactic acidity, reminding us of strawberry milkshake, with sweet pastry notes supporting (buttery, brioche, hints cinnamon and nutmeg). As it cools we find some blackcurrant leaf, ripe persimmon and golden raspberry. Traceability Country of Origin: Burundi Region: Gikungere, Butaganzwa, Kayanza Province Producer: 150 smallholder farmers via Ninga CWS on Giku hill - 39 of which contributed cherry to this particular selection. Station: Ninga CWS Variety: Red Bourbon Elevation: 1600 - 1750 MASL Process: Traditional Natural: Ripe cherries picked and delivered on foot or bicycle to Ninga CWS. Cherries floated and hand-sorted before being taken directly to raised drying beds. Whole cherries dried for 25 - 30 days, reaching target moisture content of 10.5%. Import Partner: Direct with Long Miles Harvest: Crop 25/26 - Arrived UK: June 8th 2026. Fourth harvest purchasing coffee from Giku Hill smallholders. The Story Long Miles Coffee at its core has been a system of intense traceability, lot separation and quality control, with year round agronomic support to farmers. That intense quality-feedback loop allows us as roasters to access some incredible coffees (consistently some of the best we've seen from Burundi, year after year), and allows a real speciality premium to be attached to them. The Burundian government fixes the cherry prices that can be pa

Notes

Auction lot from Long Miles Coffee Project private auction; Ninga CWS; cherries dried whole on raised beds for 25-30 days to 10.5% moisture; harvest Crop 25/26, arrived UK June 8th 2026.