LimitedSpecialty
Burundi · Kayanza
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Fully washed with soak
- Grade
- Grade A
- Screen
- 15+
- Crop
- 2025
- Quantity
- 70 bags
Black tea · Lime · Honey
Grading reference
Burundi Coffee Grades
Burundi’s grading vocabulary is close to Rwanda’s and different in one respect that matters commercially: the traceability granularity available at the bottom of the chain is unusually fine.
- Grades
- 3
- Species
- Arabica
- Authority
- Export quality control and grading administered through Burundi’s national coffee regulatory framework
- Bag standard
- 60 kg jute, GrainPro liners standard on specialty lots
At a glance
The Burundi grade ladder
Where each designation sits on the screen scale — and which ones are not size separations at all.
Grade
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Screen number · 4.8–7.5 mm
- Screen 16+Arabica
- Grade AArabica
- Grade BArabica
| Grade | What it encodes | Screen | Species |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade A | The principal fully washed export class, prepared to a tight defect standard and generally screen 15 and above. | Screen 15+ | Arabica |
| Grade B | A wider defect and size allowance from the same station preparation. Often a good value block when the cup is confirmed. | Screen 14–15 | Arabica |
| Screen 16+ | Additional screen separation requested by buyers who need a tighter size band than the grade guarantees. | Screen 16+ | Arabica |
The distinction that matters
What the grade does not tell you
This is where most green coffee is mis-bought. A grade is a preparation class. Everything below is a separate contract field, and every one of them moves independently of the grade name.
What it does fix
Burundi grading encodes
- Defect count against the fully washed preparation standard
- A screen floor — Grade A is generally screen 15 and above
- That the parcel came through a station’s fully washed process with soak
Use the grade to define the physical deliverable. Use the approved sample to define the cup. Both belong in the contract.
What it does not
Specify these separately
- Cup qualityTwo lots at the same grade from the same mill can cup several points apart. Only cupping tells you.
- Defect countA separate count on a defined sample, against a weighting table that differs by origin.
- MoistureA range plus the measurement method. Two meters on one parcel routinely disagree.
- Crop yearNothing in a grade name distinguishes current crop from a parcel that has been in store a year.
- DensityBulk density in g/L, which drives charge temperature and roast planning.
- Water activityStorage stability. Related to moisture but not derivable from it.
- TraceabilityCountry, station or day lot are different claims. A grade fixes none of them.
- Processing methodWashed, natural and honey can all carry the same grade at most origins.
Quick answer
Burundian fully washed Arabica is graded principally as Grade A and Grade B, separated on defect count and screen, with Grade A generally screen 15 and above. As in Rwanda, screen is commonly specified alongside the grade because the two-tier system cannot express size closely.
Grade A and Grade B
Burundian export Arabica is almost entirely fully washed, typically with an extended soak after fermentation, and is separated into two principal export classes.
| Grade | Preparation | Typical screen | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade A | Fully washed with soak | Screen 15+ | The principal specialty export class |
| Grade B | Fully washed with soak | Screen 14–15 | Wider defect and size allowance from the same preparation |
| Screen-specified | Fully washed with soak | Screen 16+ | Requested where a tighter size band than the grade guarantees is needed |
Collines and station-level identity
Burundi is administratively divided into provinces, communes and collines — the colline being a hill, and the smallest unit of local organisation. Coffee is produced by smallholders on those hills and delivered to washing stations, of which the country has a dense network.
Many Burundian stations record cherry deliveries at colline level, which makes an unusually fine traceability claim genuinely evidenced rather than aspirational. Where that record exists, a lot can be identified to station and to the hills that supplied it.
Evidenced, not assumed
Colline-level reporting is available at many stations, not at all of them, and not for every lot. We state the level a given lot’s documentation actually supports. A station-level lot is described as a station-level lot, not upgraded to a colline claim because it reads better.
The potato defect
Burundi shares the potato defect risk described in full on the Rwanda grades page. The mechanism, the management and the contract implications are the same: it is intermittent, invisible in the green, not reliably sortable, and best handled by station selection, thorough cupping and explicit contract terms.
Harvest and shipment
Burundian harvest runs broadly April to July, later in the northern high-altitude provinces of Kayanza and Ngozi than in the central ones. Burundi is landlocked, and the inland leg to the coast is the main variable in arrival planning — build it into the schedule rather than treating it as a rounding error. See the crop calendar.
Burundian coffee enquiries
Tell us the grade, screen, the traceability level you need to be able to evidence, and the volume.
Request Coffee OfferLast reviewed 2 min read
Contract language
Writing a Burundi specification
The grade names the physical deliverable. These are the fields that have to sit beside it for the contract to be enforceable.
| Field | What to state | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Origin and region | Burundi, plus the growing area — Kayanza, Ngozi, Kirundo | Region drives altitude, harvest timing and cup character more than the grade does |
| Grade | The Burundi designation — Grade A, Grade B, Screen 16+ | Fixes the preparation class and the size separation |
| Screen | Retention screen plus the permitted percentage passing | A screen without a tolerance is not a specification — no sizing line is perfect |
| Defects | Maximum full defects per 300 g, and the weighting table | Weighting tables differ by origin, so the number alone is not portable |
| Moisture | Range plus the measurement method and instrument | Two meters on the same parcel routinely disagree |
| Crop year | Explicit, with the harvest period | "Current crop" means different things in different months |
| Cup | Approved sample retained by both parties | The only thing that fixes flavour; the grade does not |
| Packaging | 60 kg jute, GrainPro liners standard on specialty lots | Changes the price and the container arithmetic |
| Port and Incoterm | Dar es Salaam (Central Corridor) or Mombasa (Northern Corridor) · FOB, CFR or CIF | Determines where cost and risk transfer |
Availability
Current Burundi coffee
Availability moves with the harvest, with milling and with prior commitments. Everything here is confirmed against the current crop on enquiry.
Upcoming cropSpecialty
Burundi · Ngozi
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Fully washed with soak
- Grade
- Grade A
- Screen
- 16+
- Crop
- 2025
- Quantity
- 60 bags
Grapefruit · Cocoa · Floral
Quality
How a lot is evaluated before contracting
The grade is assigned at the dry mill. This is what happens to a parcel afterwards, before it is offered and again before it is loaded.
- 01Physical gradePreparation class against the origin’s own system
- 02Screen distributionRetention plus the percentage passing
- 03Defect analysisFull defects per 300 g on a stated weighting table
- 04MoistureRange plus the measurement method and instrument
- 05Water activityWhere the buyer specifies it, for storage stability
- 06DensityBulk density in g/L, for roast planning
- 07Sample roastTo a cupping profile, not a commercial roast
- 08CuppingMultiple cups, against the approved sample
- 09Buyer approvalThe retained sample the shipment is measured against
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Is Burundian Grade A the same as Kenyan AA?
No. Kenyan AA is a screen 17/18 size separation within a seven-grade ladder. Burundian Grade A is the top class of a two-tier system separating on defect count and screen, generally screen 15 and above. The letters look similar and mean different things.
What is a colline lot?
A colline is a hill and the smallest unit of local administration in Burundi. A colline lot is coffee identified to the specific hills that delivered the cherry to a washing station. Many stations keep that record, which makes it an evidenced claim rather than a marketing one — but it is not available for every station or every lot.
Does Burundi produce natural coffee?
Predominantly fully washed with a soak, which is the country’s tradition and what most stations are equipped for. Naturals and honey preparations are produced in small volumes at some stations and availability varies by crop.
Request an offer
Tell us the Burundi coffee you need
Grade, screen, defect basis, moisture, crop year, volume and destination. Send what you know and we will confirm what the current crop supports.