01 — History & place

A short history of Ugandan coffee

Uganda is one of the few places on earth where coffee is native. Robusta — Coffea canephora — grows wild in the forests around Lake Victoria, and long before anyone exported a bean it was woven into local life: in the old Buganda kingdom, a pair of coffee berries was shared in blood-brotherhood pacts. Arabica came much later, carried up to the cool highlands in the early twentieth century, and coffee soon became the country's great cash crop, grown by hundreds of thousands of smallholders.

The twentieth century was turbulent — decades of political upheaval battered the industry — but coffee endured, because so many families depended on it. In recent years Uganda has pushed hard to grow again, planting aggressively and setting itself the goal of becoming one of the world's largest producers. Most of that volume is robusta; but alongside it, a serious specialty scene has grown up around the arabica of the eastern mountains.

Where Uganda grows its coffee

The simplest way to read Uganda's map is by altitude. The warm central, southern and eastern lowlands — the Lake Victoria crescent — grow robusta, the bulk of the country's coffee. The fine arabica grows high on the mountains that ring the edges.

The star arabica region is Mount Elgon, in the east — the Bugisu (or Gishu) coffee that is Uganda's most famous, washed and grown high on the volcano's slopes. In the far west, the glaciated Rwenzori range — the fabled Mountains of the Moon — gives bright, clean highland arabica, and in the north-west the West Nile region around Okoro grows a softer, sweeter cup. Across the warm central lowlands and the lake basin, meanwhile, lies the vast robusta heartland that makes Uganda a giant.

Almost all of it, robusta and arabica alike, is grown by smallholders on small plots and picked by hand — often alongside bananas, which shade the coffee and feed the family.

02 — Plant & process

Two species: robusta and arabica

Uganda is really two coffee countries in one. Robusta, native and hardy, thrives in the warm lowlands; it carries more caffeine and body than arabica, and gives the strong, earthy, chocolatey cup that anchors espresso blends and instant coffee the world over. A growing "fine robusta" movement is now showing how smooth and sweet it can be when it is grown and processed with care. The arabica, up in the mountains, is the classic fine coffee — washed Bugisu from Mount Elgon most of all, along with the highland lots from Rwenzori and West Nile.

How Ugandan coffee is processed

The two species are usually made in two different ways. Most robusta is natural, or dry, processed — the whole cherry dried in the sun, which suits the warm lowlands and keeps it affordable. The fine arabica of the highlands is mostly fully washed — pulped, fermented and rinsed, at home or increasingly at shared washing stations — which gives it the clean, winey clarity it is prized for. As specialty spreads, both are being pushed further: washed and honey robustas, riper naturals, and far more careful drying.

However the coffee is made, it is dried slowly in the sun before it is hulled and graded for export.

Harvest: two crops a year

Sitting right on the equator, most of Uganda has two rainy seasons — and so two coffee harvests. The robusta lowlands are picked across much of the year, with two peaks; the arabica of Mount Elgon has its main harvest from around October to February. There is almost always coffee ripening somewhere.

03 — Taste & quality

What Ugandan coffee tastes like

Again, there are two answers. Robusta is strong, full and low in acidity, with an earthy, nutty, dark-chocolate depth and a heavy body — the backbone of many an espresso blend, and, at its "fine robusta" best, surprisingly smooth and sweet. The arabica is a different creature: Bugisu coffee from Mount Elgon is famously winey and fruity, full-bodied with a deep, almost blackcurrant note, while the highland lots from Rwenzori and West Nile are cleaner, brighter and milder. Between them, Uganda covers an enormous range.

Roast tends to follow the coffee: robusta is usually taken darker, to lean into its body and chocolate for espresso, while the winey Bugisu arabica is kept lighter to protect its fruit.

Grading: screen size and the two species

Uganda grades its robusta and arabica separately, mostly by bean size using screens, along with defect counts. On the arabica side, the top Bugisu grades — the large, uniform "AA" and its neighbours — are the ones to look for; robusta is sorted into its own screen sizes for the blend and instant markets. As always in specialty, though, the real information is in the details: the region, whether it is washed or natural, and — increasingly for fine robusta and washed Bugisu alike — the cupping score.

04 — Into the cup

How to brew Ugandan coffee

How you brew Uganda depends on which Uganda you have. Robusta's heavy body and low acidity make it a natural at the espresso machine and in a moka pot or French press, where it gives crema, depth and a chocolatey punch — and it stands up beautifully to milk. The winey Bugisu arabica is a joy in a French press or pour-over, which let its fruit and body show. The four methods below cover both, with a starting recipe for each.

As a rule, treat robusta as the bold one — espresso, moka or press, often with milk — and the winey Bugisu arabica as the coffee to slow down over in a press or pour-over. However you brew it, look after the beans: buy them whole, keep them sealed away from heat and light, and use them within a few weeks of roasting. If you'd like to taste Uganda for yourself, our Ugandan coffees below are a good place to start.