Burundi, Bourbon, Swiss Water — the Rotheca Project
Some coffees have an address. This one comes from Kirundo and Muyinga, two provinces in northern Burundi, from slopes at an altitude of 1,500 to 1,800 meters, where rivers, high-altitude climate, and consistent rainfall create ideal conditions for Bourbon varieties.
What makes it special: 80% of the farms are managed or run by women. And behind this network is an organization that treats this not as a marketing claim, but as an operational reality.
Kalico — founded by Angèle Ciza
Angèle Ciza founded Kalico (Kahawa Link Company) in Burundi in 2012. Seven washing stations, hundreds of smallholder farmers, one clear goal: to produce specialty quality from Burundi and provide female coffee farmers with direct market access.
Ciza passed away in 2022. Her son Alexandre Shaka Mugisha continues to run Kalico — with the same system.
The Muramba and Butihinda washing stations process the coffee for the Rotheca Project. Over 2,400 smallholder farmers deliver their harvest there, most of whom cultivate less than one hectare.
What Kalico specifically does
- Agricultural training on harvest selection and quality practices
- Scholarships for girls' school fees
- Microfinancing for operating resources
- Angèle Ciza's own 10-hectare plantation employed over 100 women and covered school costs for employees' children
The Rotheca Project has been running for four harvest cycles. No longer a pilot project.
From cherry pulp to cup
After harvesting (March to July), the cherries are selectively hand-picked. Then: flotation to sort out unripe cherries. Pulping, 14 hours of fermentation, washing. Followed by 10 to 14 days of drying on raised drying beds under the open sky.
The result is a washed coffee with a clean, soft profile — caramel, roasted almonds, mild acidity.
Decaffeination is handled by the Swiss Water® Process: exclusively water and activated carbon filters, no solvents, caffeine content below 0.1%. We explain exactly how this works in this article.
Why this coffee is at Sortengold
We source the Rotheca Decaf because it meets two requirements that most decaffeinated coffees cannot achieve simultaneously: origin transparency and everyday drinkability.
Not a coffee you try once and admire. One you drink daily — in the evening, before bed, in the second half of the day.
Buy Swiss Water Decaf Burundi →
Preparation recommendation
Filter coffee (Chemex, French Press), fully automatic machine or gentle espresso. Grind one step coarser than for normal espresso — decaffeinated beans extract a little faster.
Behind this coffee stands Angèle Ciza's pioneering work, her son Alexandre, 2,400 female farmers in Burundi — and the Swiss Water® Team, which implements decaffeination without compromise.
