Coffee Description
Descriptors abound for this sweet fruity coffee. Fragrant peach, melon, and pomegranate lead into flavor notes of raisin pie, candied black currants, and amaretto. Its bright, sweet acidity and buttery mouthfeel blend perfectly with juicy grapefruit notes and subtle herbals.
Roast Level
Light
Variety
Bourbon
Process
Washed
Elevation
1500-2000 m
Region
Lake Kivu, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the
About Riziki Kacheranga of DR Congo
This coffee was grown by Riziki Kacheranga, a member of the Muungano Cooperative, shown here. Though Riziki is producing exceptional coffee, she lives in an area where just being female puts her at risk. Working with the Muungano co-op not only brings her great coffee to cups around the world, it empowers her and other women in her community (seen in this photo) through gender equality workshops.
Higher Grounds says, “Riziki shares how the Gender Action Learning System has changed her life: ‘The GALS is more important than food, money. I am now a respectable woman in my community. I am sure now to share my point of view at the same level as men.’"
Lake Kivu, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the
Higher Grounds Coffee
It all started with a trip to Mexico. Owner and co-founder, Chris Treter, was living and working among coffee farmers at the Maya Vinic cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico as part of a post-graduate internship in 2001. For the farmers, poverty and a lack of access to basic resources such as education and water were simply a way of life. As he neared the end of his internship, Chris asked his farmer friend, Jose Perez Vazquez, “How can we keep helping you?”
“You could sell our coffee,” said José.
And that’s exactly what Chris did. From selling Maya Vinic Co-op’s coffee at his local farmers’ market, Higher Grounds grew. Eventually they also sought out coffee from other sources and joined forces with a handful of other roasters to form an importing cooperative, Cooperative Coffees. Every trade relationship they have is modeled after that first one, and every year they still purchase from Maya Vinic. Furthermore, Higher Grounds Coffee donates 1% of their sales to On the Ground, their partner nonprofit. On the Ground empowers coffee farming communities through gender and social equity, environmental sustainability, and economic security.
