WUGAR — Washed Ugandan Arabica

What the designation covers

WUGAR is Ugandan Arabica that has been pulped, fermented, washed and dried in parchment. It is a processing designation rather than a grade; parcels are further specified by screen and defect count, and Mount Elgon coffee additionally carries the Bugisu grade ladder.

The relationship is straightforward: all Bugisu washed coffee is WUGAR, but not all WUGAR is Bugisu — washing stations in Kigezi and the Rwenzori also produce it.

Where washing capacity sits

• Mount Elgon — the established washing infrastructure, cooperative-linked, producing the Bugisu grades.
• Kigezi — a growing number of small washing stations in the south-western highlands, with high altitude and two picking windows.
• Rwenzori — washing capacity expanding in an area historically dominated by DRUGAR.
• West Nile — some washed production alongside the DRUGAR that dominates there.

The expansion of washing station capacity outside Elgon is the development to watch in Ugandan Arabica. It brings station-level traceability to areas where it did not previously exist.

The cup

Washed Ugandan Arabica is generally fuller-bodied and less acidic than washed coffee from Kenya or the Great Lakes at comparable altitude — baked apple, cane sugar, cedar, with a winey depth. Kigezi lots at the top of the altitude range can be brighter and cleaner.

Specifying WUGAR