Roastery & Processing Tour
See green beans transformed on our on-site drum roaster.
About this destination
While the estate tour emphasises the farm and cherry, the roastery and processing tour focuses on what happens after parchment arrives at the mill. Africa Coffee Park's integrated layout means green coffee moves from silos through hullers and graders without leaving the Rwashameire site, a efficiency that also preserves traceability from block to bag.
You walk the silo bank where incoming lots are logged and sampled, then follow the hulling line that removes the final parchment layer. Graders separate by screen size and defect count; guides explain how export contracts specify strict tolerances that differ from domestic retail grades. Quality control stations show how cupping scores gate which lots advance to roasting versus which remain as green export.
The drum roaster is the centrepiece when it is running on weekday mornings. Watching a full roast cycle, charge temperature, development time, colour change and drop, demystifies why the same green coffee can taste different at light versus medium roast. Technicians discuss curves used for drip packs, capsules and bulk export formats.
Traceability is woven through every stop: zone and work package identifiers follow the batch into roast logs and pack runs, linking to the public Trace Your Coffee tool for retail customers. The tour ends with a sample of the profile you watched being pulled, best paired with the cupping experience the same visit.
Hair nets and closed shoes are required in active production zones; very young children may be restricted near moving equipment. Allow ninety minutes.
Photos
Highlights
- Walk through silos, huller and grading lines
- Watch a live roast cycle on the drum roaster
- Understand traceability from zone to bag
- Sample the roast profile you just watched being pulled
- Export destinations include Somalia, China, Turkey, UK and USA