Buzira – Burundi – Bespoken Coffee Roasters

Bespoken Coffee Roasters is a small coffee roaster located outside of Portland, Oregon. I was excited to try their Burundi, which I had heard many good things about. It is comprised of coffee from 3,000 smallholder farmers and produced at the Buziraguhindwa washing station.

The coffee has a sweet-toned fragrance that is creamy and chocolaty. The sweet-tart flavor had some amazing lemon-lime citrus notes, but also notes of dark chocolate—an incredibly unique combination. The acidity was one of the strongest attributes of the coffee and was sharp, bright and full of citrus. It was strong at the front of each sip and lingered through the long finish. The sweetness, which was tart and tangy, was a great unifying attribute of the coffee.

I tried the coffee in a variety of pour over methods, as well as espresso. It was incredibly flexible and performed well in every brew method I threw at it. The espresso was especially interesting and I was impressed with how well the citrus notes came through.

The Bottom Line

This and the Folly Burundi I tried recently have both been very impressive and have renewed my love for Burundis, which had been lackluster to say the least over the past nine months. This complex and layered coffee is a great option for all African coffee lovers who have missed a good Burundi recently.