- After decades of dedicated research, development and discovery, we have an increasingly clearer picture of the coffee world's best growing areas. A country that has long been under the coffee radar is nestled in the heart of Africa. Sky-high potential and unexplored areas have made Burundi one of the world's most exciting coffee-producing nations.

Burundi is a small, heart-shaped country sandwiched between Tanzania, Congo and Rwanda in the heart of Africa. More than ten million people live in an area half the size of Finnmark in what is one of the world's poorest countries. Between 1993 and 2008, more than 300,000 people were killed in the civil war between the "Hutu" and "Tutsi" peoples. The country is still living with the aftermath of the 15-year war and today tops lists such as "the world's least globalized country" and "the world's most hunger-stricken country".

- Since Belgium began planting coffee trees in the country in the 1960s, Burundian coffee raw materials have largely disappeared in industrial coffee blends. This is mainly because the country's coffee production was state-controlled until 2007, which meant that for a long time it was impossible to separate out lots from specific growing areas, farms and cooperatives. As a result, the unique qualities of Burundian coffee were long underestimated and overlooked.

Transformed coffee nation. Because Burundi was in many ways rediscovered as a coffee nation in 2007, it is now one of the most exciting countries in the coffee world. Thanks to its humid climate and volcanic soil up to 2,000 meters above sea level, the potential for growing first-class coffee raw materials is huge. Both variations in soil and bean types, which are often local varieties of Bourbon, mean that specific growing areas can offer unique taste experiences. However, Burundi is still a confusing market, where it is more difficult to locate the unique, local batches than in more established producer countries. Like other African producing countries, the beans grown have qualities that are distinctive to Burundi. A typical cup tends to be fruity and juicy with a balanced sweetness and flavor references to citrus and fresh berries.

Burundi's best growing conditions. One man who has helped to unearth unique coffee lots from the country is Burundian producer Salume Ramadahn. Among other things, he has done an important job of mapping the growing areas and coffee farms in the now highly recognized region of Kayanza, which can be compared to Kenya's "Nyeri" and Ethiopia's "Yirgacheffe" in terms of quality and distinctiveness associated with one particular region. Ramadahn sorts coffee lots based on micro-region, harvest period and processing method. This means he can offer a range of micro lots with distinct flavor differences, grown in some of Burundi's very best growing areas. This year's batch is sourced from farmers in the Shembati micro-region, and has been selected in competition with batches from three other areas in Buziraguhindwa.