COFFEE QUALITY: Washed Arabica.

Variety: Mount Elgon Nyasaland Coffee.

VIRACHI INTERNATIONAL LIMITED Region: Mount Elgon, an Extinct Volcano in Eastern

Plot 133/135 Sixth Street, Industrial Area, Uganda.
Kampala,Uganda
Altitude: 4,100 - 5,600 ft.
info@virachiinternational.com
Processing Type: Fully washed and sorted by hand.
Harvest Date: September - October
Cup Profile: Great balance, fine acidity, good body with
chocolate overtones, critic and floral notes.
MIALE - TUBANA MIXED FARMERS’ COOPERATIVE GROUP

MOUNT ELGON, UGANDA

***Slow Food presidia are local projects that work to

protect small-scale producers and safeguard quality
artisanal products.***

The variety: Mount Elgon Nyasaland Coffee

UGANDA - THE PEARL OF AFRICA Nyasaland is the local name for the plant growing a very
aromatic variety of Coffea arabica.
Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa,
bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by
Native to Geisha in western Ethiopia and then planted in the
South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic
former British protectorate that corresponds to today’s Malawi
Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by
which at the time was called-memo-Nyasaland.
Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania.
Compered to hybrids varieties, Nyasaland plants have a
The southern part of the country includes a
greater resistance to pests and disease, and also resistant
substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with
to weeds like couch grass; their perfomance however is less
Kenya and Tanzania.
favourable when compared to other Arabica.
Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region and
However, Nyasaland is a long-life tree with sharp pointed
also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied
shinny leaves and a strong stem, which never breaks even
but generally a modified equatorial climate.
with very high yield, but rather bends to form a semi-circle in
case of over yielding.

Nyasaland Coffee survives thanks to the perseverance of a

few producers who have preserved and cared for the variety
over the years.

OUR
COFFEE SINGLE ORIGIN
BRANDS UGANDAN
SPECIALITY COFFEE

Coffee Drying in Wanale,
Nkokonjeru, Mt. Elgon
The territory
The coffee is produced in the villages of
Miale, Mooni parish, Bungokho-Mutoto sub
parish, Mbale district (Eastern Uganda).
In particular, it is cultivated between 4,100
and 5,600 feet, on the wind ward side of
Nkokonjeru Wanale hills, along Mountain
Elgon (locally Masaba Mountain) slopes.
Here the climate alternates between wet and
dry periods and several streams run through
the hill every 500m.
Cultivation and harvest
In February farmers start ploughing the
land and digging planting holes, which will
be filled around April with a mix of soil and
organic manure.
The seedlings are planted once the rain arrives.
After 3 months, the coffee trees are bended
facing East to allow two or three more stems
to grow vertically and once they emerge, cut
off the old stem.
Weeding is done with a forked hoe, while live-
stock manure is used to fertilize.
Harvesting takes place in September-October,
followed by the fly crop in May- June about
5-10% of main crop.
We pick only the coffee berries that are well
ripened.
***Slow Food presidia are local projects that work to
protect small-scale producers and safeguard quality
artisanal products.***
MIALE - TUBANA MIXED FARMERS’
COOPERATIVE GROUP preserves
the Nyasaland Variety in Uganda,
through the Slow Food Presidium
project, while We add value to the coffee,
safeguard quality and bring it to a larger
market, thus helping create sustainable
livelihood and wealth for the farmers.
We at VULCAN COFFEE commit to
improving the livelihoods of the
communities We work with, by using a
portion of the proceeds from sale of this
coffee to build their capacity.
Sustainable
Wealth
The processing The storing
The berries are first soaked in water: the floaters The coffee is stored in well aerated rooms separately
are removed, while the ones that sink are pulped from other products, which can give off other smells.
using a specific machine. The bags are placed on wooden pallets and far from
the walls to avoid any contamination.
At this point the cherries start the fermentation
process that lasts 24 hours.
Producers
Once ready, the cherries are carefully washed
and then transferred to the drying beds (also
wire nets are used), before transferring the 40 producers united in the Miale-Tubana Mixed
cherries to the drying beds, they are carefully Farmers’ Cooperative Group.
washed.
The parchment is directly exposed to the sun
for the first two days but with controlled time of 3
hours.
The coffee is periodically turned around during
the drying to allow uniform drying and proper
aeration.