Sarah and I don’t chase what’s fashionable in coffee. We chase what scores well on the cupping table — and what’s behind that score matters just as much. Rwamatamu Rwanda comes from a family-run farm at the Rwamatamu washing station in Rwanda’s Western Province, and it just gave us the independent version of what we already knew: a 1-star Great Taste Award, 2026.

Here’s why that matters to us more than it probably should.

Finding this lot wasn’t quick

An 87-plus scoring coffee doesn’t turn up because you asked nicely. Rwamatamu is a single estate, naturally processed, medium-light roast — and it’s juicy and structured, with a berry-like sharpness up front, a creamy mouthfeel, and depth that actually holds through the last sip. That combination is rare enough that we don’t expect to reorder this exact lot again once it’s gone. That’s not a flaw in how we buy. It’s the point.

An award doesn’t change our minds. It confirms them.

We’d already decided this coffee was good enough to sell before any judging panel got near it — the cupping score told us that. What the Great Taste Award gives us is someone with no reason to agree with us, agreeing with us anyway. That’s worth more to us than the badge itself.

If you’re pouring this for guests, not just yourself

This is exactly the kind of detail we want hotels, restaurants and coffee enthusiasts paying attention to. Not the badge — the relationship and the process behind it. Cupping scores, single-estate provenance, awards that hold up under scrutiny. For hospitality partners looking at the Trilogy Residency, that’s exactly what you’re buying into.