Spro Jackson Coffee Beans

This coffee is named after Bo Jackson, who has a speech stutter. Bo was a legendary athlete. He was one of the greatest college football players of all time and is the only athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports.

Because Bo seemed to struggle with the word 'I', he worked with his therapist to refer to himself in the third person, realizing that saying his name aloud helped lessen his stutter. This laid the groundwork for his world famous catchphrase, "Bo knows!".

Much like Bo, this is a two-sport coffee, as it can shine as both a medium-dark filter roast, OR as an espresso 

Not only does this coffee have a great name and taste like a dream (whatever that means), it's also grown by an amazing group of producers, the Baho Ikizere Women group. Read more below! 

ORIGIN + VARIETY: SINGLE ORIGIN - Rwanda / Red Bourbon
TASTING NOTES: Candied ginger + tea + strawberry finish 
ROAST: Medium-Dark
FARM: Baho Ikizere Women Group
REGION: Southern Nyaruguru District
ALTITUDE: 1550-1850masl
PROCESS: Washed

SIZE: Available in 227g bag

GRIND: Whole Bean, Filter, French Press and Espresso/Moka Pot.

More about the Producers:

The Fugi Ikizere Women group is made up of single mothers, many of whom are widowed, and face the difficult task of navigating Rwandese society that still struggles with much patriarchal discrimination.

The Ikizere lots represent farmgate prices (what is actually paid to the farmers) that are 50% more than the national average. In order to make an even deeper impact, the women of Ikizere also depulp their coffees by hand together so that they can connect and bond over the similar difficulties many face.

With income from this coffee, Baho Coffee who oversees the processing station and helps support the growers, paid the Ikizere women the highest price of cherries in the country. They also paid for their 2020 health insurance when they needed it most due to COVID-19. We will be sure to update you all on if this health insurance is extended, on top of the wages (some of the highest in the country), and pensions. 

Our partners at Baho and Semilla Coffee have also started a Farmer First program that ensures farmers can get second payments throughout the year, so producers and pickers aren't only paid at harvest. It also allows for workarounds for higher payments than the government imposed ceiling allows, and provides micro financing that producers depend on throughout the year. We also send micro financing donations to the farmers in Rwanda that we work with, alongside our partners. 

More about the Processing: 

While you'd be right to assume that manual depulping is incredibly time consuming and difficult, it actually is a traditional method of coffee processing in Rwanda.

Prior to the development of washing stations, and even to some extent now, many producers would manually depulp their coffee and sell it in this wet state to intermediaries. This coffee would be marketed as “semi-washed” coffee, and often was of lower quality due to the poor processing procedures.

Thanks to the rigorous quality controls within the Fugi washing station, this traditional depulping method has actually resulted in super delicious and unique coffees. 

Ikizere Producers:

The following 23 names are the women who produced and manually depulped this incredible coffee. They are the main reason why this coffee is great:

Costasie Mukamuzima / Epiphanie Ntawangaheza / Theodosie Uwambajimana / Adidja Nyiracumi / Vestine Sindikubwabo / Josephine Uwimana / Bernadette Mukandemera / Christine Utarengejeho  / Berancilla Baravuga / Mariam Kabagwira / Verediane Mukamparirwa / Angele Mukanyonga / Venantie Nsaguye / Speciose Nyirantashya / Drocelle Nyirarugwiro / Christine Nyandwi / Alphonsine Mukamugema/ Seraphine Mukaremera /Marguerite Niyongere /Venantie Mukakizima/ Veronique Niyonizeye/ Cecile Nyiraminani / Emerance Hategekimana

Brewing Tips: