David Rubanzangabo operates the Huye Mountain washing station with an emphasis on community, and a strong dedication to the 1,200 area farmers it serves.
Quality is the foundation of David Rubanzangabo’s journey in coffee. Rwanda’s transition to specialty coffee and David’s journey run closely together. As an agricultural technician, David supported efforts of both cooperatives and farmers, improving the quality of their coffee toward high-end specialty in the early 2000’s through the PEARL and SPREAD projects. Eventually, this work lead David to establish his own 3-hectare farm and purchase his own processing equipment where quality guided his work from its beginning. In the first season, David produced 50 bags of coffee with cherries from his own farm, as well as neighboring farms and Huye Mountain coffee was born.
Today, in addition to managing Huye Mountain, David manages his own farms Gako, Gishamvu, and Kigoma. The two Huye washing stations receive and process the Bourbon variety cultivated between 1600 and 2200 meters. Rwanda is called “The Land of a Thousand Hills” and the verdant highlands provide optimal growing conditions for coffee to thrive. Throughout the harvest season, David’s sister Rachel roasts and evaluates coffees as they come off the drying beds, evaluating each day’s deliveries for quality. Rachel cups between 30-40 samples per day, representing several days of harvest across many producers, to land on the best profile. Her meticulous quality control and hard work consistently deliver the fantastic coffees of Huye Mountain to Stumptown, which are a combination of the top-scoring lots.
David continues investing in projects to improve Huye Mountain’s quality and growth. Huye Mountain eventually constructed their own dry milling facility to oversee each step of their coffee post-harvest to export. Stumptown had the opportunity to partner with Huye Mountain on a project to construct coffee nurseries and distribute coffee seedlings across the network of producers which will sustain, as well as increase, the production of the Bourbon variety. David proposed Stumptown’s partnership to support 1,920 producers’ path toward organic certification. The project began in 2024 and is ongoing, including training in organic farming techniques, application of organic fertilizers, and ongoing support through the certification process.
Stumptown is grateful to continue this partnership with David and Huye Mountain. Each year, the coffee from Huye Mountain arrives with a distinct vibrance and sweetness everyone at Stumptown looks forward to.
