Wood smoke weaves a veil over a hut in Rwinkwavu, a rural village nestled about 25km from the Tanzanian border.
Coffee farmer Ayurwanda Vedaste, 41, grasps a handful of raw coffee beans and casts them into a brass pot over a fire.
Next to him, his wife Bamboneye Appolinaire, 53, picks up a wooden ladle and churns the beans rhythmically, conjuring the scent of roasted coffee.
The coffee beans are transferred onto a metal plate to cool, and then to a wooden mortar.
While mortar and pestles are typically used in Rwandan villages to pound cassava roots, Mr Vedaste uses the same method to crush roasted beans into ground coffee.
He then shakes the pounded coffee beans in a box fitted with a mesh to sieve the coffee grounds.
The larger pieces that do not make it through the sieve are returned to the mortar for further grinding.
The coffee grounds are poured into a plastic jug, which is then immersed in boiling water.
After a few minutes, the concoction is poured through a sieve into plastic mugs.
Mr Vedaste said: “I like it very much. I feel good in my stomach; I feel more energy.”
This method of brewing coffee with household items is common among farmers such as Mr Vedaste and Madam Appolinaire.
Many of them repurpose farm tools for their coffee growing and processing rituals.
For instance, fellow Kayonza coffee farmer, Madam Jeanette Mukamushumba, 35, uses a mosquito net – it has a finer mesh – to filter coffee grounds.
Enjoying a cup of coffee is a recent phenomenon in Rwanda.
In the early 1900s, coffee exports were introduced by German colonisers and became a key driver of the economy in the 1930s under the Belgian colonial administration.
But like many colonised coffee-producing countries, coffee was a crop meant for foreigners and foreign shores.
“Most farmers are used to selling it, but they don’t know what is it for,” said agronomist Felicien Tumuhawenimana, 38, who equips farmers with agronomic techniques, farming tools and entrepreneurship training.
Rwandans who wanted to try coffee would have to purchase roasted coffee beans from the market at a much steeper price, said Mr Tumuhawenimana.
This meant that domestic consumption was hardly cultivated.
Instead, tea, soda and beer have been the traditional beverages of choice.
While coffee consumption is new, a coffee renaissance has been brewing.
Organisations such as the non-profit Kula Project encourage coffee producers to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
“We teach farmers to drink their coffee, so they know what they farm and can see the whole process from farm to cup,” said Mr Alain Mbane, a senior operations associate at Kula Project, a non-profit that operates across the country.
And Kula is not alone in its initiative.
Parallel efforts, like that of Sustainable Growers, a coffee programme that trains women farmers across Rwanda, also aim to foster a culture of domestic consumption among coffee producers.
Farmers have expressed a sense of pride drinking the coffee they have worked on.
“I feel happy that I can drink from my own plantation, and not spend time and money to buy coffee from somewhere else,” said Madam Mukamushumba.
BREWING ANEW
In Rwanda’s capital city Kigali, a burgeoning coffee scene has taken hold.
Home-grown coffee chains Bourbon Coffee and Cafe Camellia have become staples in the city’s most frequented neighbourhoods.
Mr Cyomoro Swizz (below, left), 25, co-founder and head barista of Toffee Frappz, a coffee bar in the Nyarugenge district, attributes this momentum to the influx of coffee-drinking foreigners.
“Rwandans became curious and wanted to try it,” he said.
There is now a growing community of coffee enthusiasts, which has led to a boom in new cafes.
“In every corner, there is a person thinking about opening a cafe,” said Mr Swizz, who opened Toffee Frappz three years ago.
His cafe is patronised by regulars such as Mr Jotham Nshizirungu (below, in yellow), 25.
The businessman has been to Toffee Frappz every day for the past two years to enjoy a cappuccino and a quick chat with his friends.
More coffee establishments are now marketing their products to locals.
Question Coffee Cafe and Roastery, a popular speciality coffee chain, served up free cups of batch-brew coffee from 2018 to 2019, to share the taste of coffee with curious Rwandans.
The chain now charges 1,500 Rwandan francs (S$1.70) a cup.
“We want to try and change the idea that coffee is only for export,” said Question Coffee barista Isaac Umwankankabandi, 33.
But the nascent coffee culture still has a long way to go, said Mr Wilson Rugamba, 30, a senior barista at Rubia Coffee Roasters.
Amid this coffee craze, many Rwandans still prefer their cuppa with milk and generous helpings of sugar and honey, he said.
He hopes that in time to come, Rwandans can appreciate their local coffee as it is, with fewer additions.
“People still don’t really know how to appreciate coffee properly,” said Mr Rugamba. “For us baristas, there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Ryan Chiong is a final-year communication studies student at Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in Singapore. His report on Rwanda’s coffee culture is part of the school’s Going Overseas for Advanced Reporting (Go-Far) module.
The Go-Far 2023 team will present their collection of news features and photographs from their trip to Rwanda at the Asian Civilisations Museum on Nov 12.
For more information, visit @gofar.wkwsci.