Gaharo Long Miles

Get to know this coffee in detail

The Long Miles Coffee Project in Burundi works alongside small producers in Kayanza to transform local coffee and improve the lives of coffee-growing families. This collaborative approach ensures exceptional traceability and quality.

This Red Bourbon variety batch has been processed using the traditional washed method.

Ripe cherries are hand-selected and dry-fermented for 12 hours before a final rinse that enhances their clarity. A distinctive step is "footing," where the parchment is manually agitated to remove any remaining mucilage.

Finally, the coffee is slowly dried on African beds for 16 to 20 days until it reaches 10.5% humidity.

The result is a complex coffee with notes of Catalan cream, nectarine, and black tea, reflecting Long Miles' commitment to quality.

Meet the producer

Gaharo Long Miles: Coffee, Community, and Commitment in the Heart of Burundi

In northern Burundi, at an altitude of almost 2,000 meters in the Kayanza region, lies Gaharo, a hill that not only produces top-quality coffee but also represents a story of transformation, collective effort, and commitment to people and the environment. This is where the Long Miles Coffee project was born, an initiative that has changed the lives of hundreds of coffee-growing families.

It all began in 2013, when Long Miles Coffee built its first washing station in Bukeye, a nearby village that today serves as the operational heart of the project. They built it on a piece of land long forgotten by many, at the foot of Gaharo Hill. Local farmers themselves cleared the land, made the bricks from clay from the valley, and built the station from scratch. Since then, Gaharo and Bukeye have become a symbol of exemplary collaboration between coffee producers and processors.

At Gaharo, the predominant variety is Red Bourbon , grown by small producers on family plots. The Bukeye washing station features its own water source and a granite-filtered well, ensuring clean, consistent water for the processing process. The cherries, carefully hand-selected, undergo a traditional washing process, which includes dry fermentation for approximately 12 hours, followed by a distinctive step: " footing ." During this step, workers agitate the parchment with their feet to manually remove any remaining mucilage, a technique that enhances the cleanliness and clarity of the cup profile.

After being washed and sorted by density, the samples spend 16 to 20 days on African drying beds until they reach the optimum humidity level (10.5%). The result is a clean, complex, and fragrant coffee, with notes of nectarine, flowers, crème brûlée, vanilla , and a fruity, sweet finish, accompanied by honeyed acidity and a silky body .

But there's much more to this sensory profile than just technique. At Gaharo, quality also stems from the daily work of the Coffee Scouts , a group of young people like Emery, Suavis, and Peter, who support coffee-growing families in sustainable agricultural practices. They teach how to plant shade trees, apply green manure, perform seasonal pruning, and detect pests like antestia, the colorful insect linked to the potato flavor defect. These scouts work side by side with producers during the harvest, ensuring that each cherry picked meets quality standards.

In addition, Long Miles has implemented a grower card system , which records each cherry delivery and allows for full traceability back to the cherry orchard of origin. This system not only ensures transparency but also allows for recognition and rewards for those producing the most outstanding batches.

With more than 100 dedicated employees—many of them women in charge of quality control—and seven years of operation, the Bukeye station doesn't just process coffee: it builds community, knowledge, and opportunities.

Gaharo Long Miles is not just a Burundian coffee. It's the reflection of a humane, sustainable project deeply connected to its environment. Every cup that comes from this hill carries with it the story of those who believe in doing things together, "twese hamwe."