We are thrilled to introduce Uganda NKG Bloom Silverback, the first Arabica offering from the NKG Bloom Uganda initiative!
Bulambuli is a district in Eastern Uganda near the Kenya border, at the foot of Mt. Elgon. It’s a region with tremendous potential and has been a focus for Ibero, our NKG colleagues in Uganda. In 2022, Ibero built the Bulambuli Washing Station: a brand new site for washing, pulping, drying and fermenting coffees. Silverback was produced there by several cooperatives in the area whose producer members are enrolled in NKG Bloom.
Throughout the harvest season, these members delivered their coffee cherries to the washing station. The cherries were assessed to meet quality standards and weighed. Next, they were floated to remove any low-density or damaged beans from the lot, as well as sticks or leaves.
Those designed for a washed process were then machine pulped, fermented for between 12 and 72 hours, and washed. Finally, they were moved to raised beds, where they were dried for between 21 and 28 days, depending on the weather.
Natural-processed lots are usually brought to drying yards in Mbale, where they are overseen by professionals who are focused on achieving the best results possible.
Bulambuli
Uganda NKG Bloom Silverback comes from several cooperatives comprised of smallholder farmers, managing 0.45 acres on average. They grow SL14, KP162, SL28 and KP423 varieties between 1,500 and 3,050 meters above sea level. Those at lower attitudes begin harvesting in September, while the higher-altitude regions begin in November and continue through February. Their coffee is processed at the Bulambuli washing station (which is owned and operated by Neumann Kaffee Gruppe exporter Ibero) as either a washed or natural.
NKG Bloom
NKG Bloom Uganda — which was an early inspiration for the now-global initiative — focuses on offering producers three key offerings: mobile money advances, professional assistance in agriculture and business best practices; and soil analysis and fertilizer application.
You can read more about the work of our NKG Bloom Uganda colleagues here.
Silverback
The name for this coffee was inspired by Uganda’s most imposing yet gentle inhabitants, the Silverback gorillas. These majestic creatures display remarkable intelligence, as evidenced by their use of tools, complex communication skills and social problem-solving abilities. They’re also known for their learning capabilities, which includes the use of sign language, their strong memory skills, great capacity for empathy, deep family bonds and emotional complexity.
Cupping notes (washed process): Root beer, Rainier cherry, toffee; syrupy body.
Cupping notes (natural process): Concord grape, cola, frangipane, coconut.
