The Name We Carry

My paternal grandmother gave me my name. She was a woman of strength and wisdom who lived in the hills of northern Rwanda, and she was killed in the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, before I could grow up knowing her. In Kinyarwanda, Umunyana means something you see once in a lifetime. Something rare. Something that brings you luck.

Her name carried me through everything. I grew up believing I was lucky because of it, and that belief shaped who I became. This company carries her name for the same reason I do.

Her hills grow some of the finest coffee on earth. High altitude, volcanic soil, equatorial sun cooled by mountain air. The conditions that make coffee difficult to grow are the same conditions that make it extraordinary, and northern Rwanda has all of them.

Umunyana Coffee buys directly from women farmers in those hills and roasts in small batches in Los Angeles, days before shipping. The farmers are paid first. That is simply the order in which we do things.

Each of our three roasts is named for a goddess. N° 01, Goddess of Strength, our light roast, bright with orange peel, jasmine, and honey. N° 02, Goddess of Earth, our medium roast, balanced with citrus, honey, and floral notes. N° 03, Goddess of Joy, our dark roast, deep with dark chocolate, roasted nuts, and black cherries. Strength to begin, Earth to return, Joy to linger.

Our first harvest sold out. Our second harvest is open for preorder now and ships this December. When it is spoken for, it is finished until next season.

A name, a hill, a harvest, once a year. Welcome.