Rwenzori

The Rwenzori region of western Uganda grows both arabica, on the slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains, and robusta. Its arabica is mostly dried naturally, giving a fruity, spicy, winey cup, and the region is planting fast: in 2022/23 it received more coffee seedlings than any other in Uganda.

The short version

• Arabica on the mountains, and robusta too.
• Mostly natural arabica: dried fruit, clove, orange acidity, a winey finish.
• About 0.95 million bags in UCDA’s 2021/22 survey.
• Planting fast: 10.9 million seedlings and plantlets in 2022/23, the most of any region.
• Harvest from about September to February for arabica.

What does Rwenzori coffee taste like?

The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) profiled the coffees of its Western Savannah Grasslands zone, which covers the Rwenzori districts of Kabarole, Kamwenge and Kasese:

Coffee	Cup profile
Arabica	Floral, dried fruit, mild chocolate, clove spice, orange acidity, mild body, winey notes in the finish
Robusta	Mild tropical fruit, peanut butter, low bitterness, heavy body, rounded finish

Source: UCDA, Uganda Coffee Profiles.

UCDA says the zone’s arabicas are predominantly naturally processed, and that its robustas grow fruitier in the slightly higher districts, such as Kabarole. The arabicas of Kasese and Kabarole also belong to UCDA’s highland zone, with Mount Elgon and Kisoro, whose coffees it describes as floral, berry and citrus with chocolate and caramel, at a mean of about 1,855 metres.

Where is it grown?

In western Uganda. UCDA’s Rwenzori region takes in ten districts: Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Kagadi, Kamwenge, Bundibugyo, Bunyangabo, Kabarole, Kasese, Kitagwenda and Ntoroko, growing both robusta and arabica. The area is part of the Albertine Rift, UCDA says, with natural equatorial forest and savanna grassland, and its profiling zone gets about 1,200–2,000 mm of rain a year.

How much coffee does it grow?

UCDA’s production surveys put the Rwenzori region at 0.95 million bags in 2021/22. Little of it leaves under its own name: in 2022/23, just 1,680 bags were exported as Rwenzori grades, UCDA says.

It is expanding fast. In 2022/23, UCDA distributed 10.9 million coffee seedlings and plantlets to 13,928 farmers in the Rwenzori region, including 9.5 million arabica seedlings: the most of any region, and nearly a quarter of the 47.2 million handed out nationwide.

When is it harvested?

Uganda’s arabica harvest, from Mount Elgon in the east to Mount Rwenzori in the west, runs from about September to February, Algrano reported in 2024. The exporter Mountain Harvest told Algrano it was working with local entrepreneurs in the Rwenzori to train young coffee aggregators.

Rwenzori and other Ugandan origins

• Coffee in Uganda: the whole country, its robusta and its harvests.
• Mount Elgon (Bugisu): Uganda’s main arabica mountain, in the east.
• South-western Uganda: robusta and arabica from the south-west.