Bourbon Coffee

Overview

Bourbon Coffee opened its first store at Kigali's Union Trade Centre on 2 March 2007 — the day President Kagame inaugurated UTC and the City Market — founded by Rwandan-Americans Arthur Karuletwa and Emmanuel Murekezi after Karuletwa returned from California-then-Seattle (where he met his wife and 'his other love, coffee') to consult for OCIR-Café and build a retail brand for Rwanda's post-genocide coffee renewal. It is widely cited as Rwanda's first specialty coffee shop and the first African retail coffee brand to expand to the United States; the name nods to the Red Bourbon arabica that accounts for ~95% of Rwandan coffee.

Known for

• Rwanda's first specialty coffee shop
• First African retail coffee brand in the United States
• Direct trade with mixed Hutu-Tutsi cooperatives as reconciliation work
• Crop-to-cup philosophy + 25%+ above Fair Trade pricing
• Tristar Investments backing

Why it matters

Bourbon was the platform Rwanda used to re-brand its coffee abroad after 1994 — the first specialty cafe chain on Rwandan soil, the first African specialty retailer to land in the U.S., and a founding example of how producer-country brands can reach Western consumers directly.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

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color sorting

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roaster machine

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filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

Roasting partners in Rwanda and the U.S.

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

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Café

Union Trade Centre, Kigali (original flagship)

Recognitions

• First specialty coffee shop in Rwanda
• First African retail coffee brand in the United States

Sources

• https://bourboncoffeeusa.com/about-us
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/20/AR2009102000735.html
• https://allafrica.com/stories/200702130431.html
• http://thanassiscambanis.com/sipa/?p=322
• https://davidsouthconsulting.com/tag/coffee/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-karuletwa-a8379913/
• https://www.baristaexchange.com/profile/ArthurK