Origin: Uganda
Region: Mount Elgon
Subregion: Sironko, Budadiri
Producers: Smallholder farmers
Wet Mill: Sironko Washing Station
Crop: 2025/26
Species: Arabica
Varieties: SL28 & SL34
Altitude: 1,500–1,850 MASL
Processing Altitude: Approx. 1,250 MASL
Process: Fully Washed
Processing: Mechanically depulped & demucilaged
Drying: Controlled mechanical drying
Drying Time: Approx. 21–48 hours
Target Moisture: Approx. 12%
Screen: 15+
Certification: Rainforest Alliance Certified
Tasting Notes: Lemon, Black Tea, Dried Fruits & Creamy Chocolate
Lot: P8003138-1
This coffee comes from the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, one of East Africa’s most distinctive coffee-growing landscapes. Produced by smallholder farmers from communities around Sironko and Budadiri, this lot brings together high-altitude Arabica, careful cherry selection and modern washed processing to create a clean, vibrant and highly traceable coffee.
Coffee from the Slopes of Mount Elgon
Mount Elgon is an ancient extinct volcano straddling the border between Uganda and Kenya. Its fertile volcanic soils, reliable rainfall and dramatic changes in elevation create excellent conditions for growing Arabica coffee.
The farmers contributing to this lot grow coffee at approximately 1,500–1,850 metres above sea level, where cooler temperatures slow the ripening of the coffee cherries. This longer maturation period helps the fruit develop more gradually, encouraging greater sweetness, acidity and complexity before harvest.
Coffee farming in this region is dominated by small family-run farms, many of which grow coffee alongside other crops and shade trees. Rather than operating as one large estate, Sironko represents the work of many individual producers whose cherries are brought together for centralised processing.
The Sironko Story
The coffee takes its name from Sironko, a district and river in the Mount Elgon region.
Local tradition links the name Sironko with the idea of solace and peacefulness, reflecting the importance of the river and surrounding landscape to communities living on the mountain.
Today, the Sironko area remains closely connected to coffee production, with thousands of farming families relying on Arabica coffee as an important part of their livelihoods.
Smallholder Grown, Centrally Processed
Freshly harvested cherries are delivered by surrounding farmers to the Sironko Washing Station in Budadiri.
This centralised model allows smallholder producers to access equipment, quality-control systems and processing methods that would be difficult to operate independently on very small farms.
At the washing station, cherries are first weighed and checked for quality before entering an automatic flotation system.
This separates the cherries according to density, helping identify the ripest and most suitable fruit for specialty-quality production.
Only the best-quality cherries continue into the main processing stages.
SL28 & SL34
This lot is produced from two well-known East African Arabica varieties:
SL28 and SL34.
Both varieties have a long history in East African coffee production and are particularly valued for their ability to produce sweetness, structured acidity and complex flavour when grown at higher elevations.
Their presence in this lot helps give the coffee its distinctive balance of bright citrus, tea-like structure, dried-fruit sweetness and chocolate depth.
Combined with the growing conditions on Mount Elgon, these varieties give Sironko a very different character from lower-altitude or more commercially processed Ugandan coffees.
Fully Washed Processing
This coffee is processed using a fully washed method, helping create a clean and defined flavour profile.
After sorting, the cherries are mechanically depulped, removing the outer fruit while retaining the coffee seed inside its protective parchment layer.
The remaining mucilage is then removed using a mechanical demucilaging system rather than relying on a long traditional fermentation.
This method gives the washing station greater control over processing and helps produce a consistent, clean cup from coffee supplied by many individual farmers.
Once the mucilage has been removed, the parchment coffee is thoroughly washed before moving into the drying stage.
Controlled Drying
Instead of relying entirely on open-air sun drying, Sironko uses controlled mechanical drying chambers.
The coffee first undergoes a drainage and skin-drying stage lasting approximately seven hours, allowing excess surface moisture to dissipate.
The parchment is then dried using carefully controlled temperatures over approximately 21–48 hours, until the coffee reaches a target moisture content of around 12%.
Maintaining consistent temperature and airflow during drying helps reduce the risk of uneven moisture, mould development or other quality defects.
For roasters, this careful moisture control can contribute to greater consistency and more predictable roast behaviour.
High-Altitude Arabica
Growing at 1,500–1,850 MASL gives this coffee many of the characteristics associated with high-altitude East African Arabica.
Cooler temperatures slow the ripening process, allowing the coffee cherries to remain on the tree for longer before harvest.
This can lead to denser green beans and more developed sugars and organic acids, creating a coffee capable of showing both sweetness and brightness when roasted carefully.
For home and commercial roasters, this makes Sironko particularly interesting for lighter and medium roast profiles.
Rainforest Alliance Certified
This lot is Rainforest Alliance Certified, reflecting standards relating to responsible farming, environmental stewardship and social conditions.
The approach to sustainability around Sironko goes beyond certification alone.
Coffee pulp produced during processing is returned to farmers, where it can be decomposed and used as organic material or fertiliser on their farms.
Wastewater from processing is treated before being reused on crops and demonstration farms, helping reduce the environmental impact of the washing station.
These practices help keep more of the by-products from coffee production within the local farming system rather than treating them simply as waste.
Supporting Coffee-Growing Communities
The programme behind Sironko also works with farmers to improve both coffee quality and long-term farm productivity.
Participating producers receive training in Good Agricultural Practices, covering areas such as farm management, pruning, soil health, harvesting and productivity.
Farmers may also receive coffee seedlings and agricultural inputs intended to support renovation and future yields.
There is also a focus on women and young people within coffee-growing communities.
Training and community initiatives are used to encourage greater participation in household decision-making and ownership of resources, while local savings and loan groups help provide producers with greater access to finance.
These programmes are important because they aim to strengthen the farming communities behind the coffee rather than focusing exclusively on the final export product.
In the Cup
This lot combines the brightness expected from a high-altitude East African washed coffee with a softer, more approachable sweetness.
Expect notes of:
Lemon • Black Tea • Dried Fruits • Creamy Chocolate
The lemon character brings brightness and freshness, while the black tea note gives the cup a clean, structured quality.
Dried-fruit sweetness adds depth through the middle of the cup, before finishing with a softer creamy chocolate character.
The result is a coffee that is lively without being aggressively acidic and complex without becoming overly floral or delicate.
For Roasters
Uganda Sironko is a versatile green coffee that should respond especially well to light-to-medium and medium roast profiles.
A lighter roast can emphasise the lemon acidity, tea-like structure and fruit character, making it particularly well suited to filter brewing.
A medium roast will increase the chocolate, sweetness and body while retaining enough brightness to keep the coffee balanced.
For espresso, a well-developed medium roast should produce a cup with good sweetness, citrus lift and a smooth chocolate finish.
It can also work as a distinctive component in blends where additional fruit, acidity and complexity are required without losing body.
A Modern Expression of Ugandan Coffee
Uganda is one of Africa’s largest coffee-producing countries, but much of its production has historically been associated with commercial-grade coffee.
Sironko shows a different side of Ugandan coffee.
By combining high-altitude SL28 and SL34, careful cherry selection, controlled fully washed processing and structured drying, this lot demonstrates the quality possible from Mount Elgon’s smallholder farming communities.
Its traceability, Rainforest Alliance certification, community support programmes and distinctive flavour profile make it a particularly compelling green coffee for roasters looking to explore modern Ugandan specialty coffee.
Uganda is the native home to one species of Robusta, and commercial coffee production in the country goes back to the beginning of the 20th century.
The bulk of our Uganda coffee is sourced from the West, near the Rwenzori Mountains. The biggest difference between East (Mount Elgon) and West (Rwenzori) is that Mount Elgon is a more established and competitive market. We are excited to be at the forefront of the drive for enhancing coffee production infrastructure, developing the industry and becoming reliable partners for farmers in the Rwenzori Mountain region.
It is clear to us that the potential in this region might exceed our expectations and even the potential of the popular Mount Elgon region. With an ever-growing demand for high quality Arabicas and a sustained interest from roasters and coffee drinkers in the East African origins, we are very confident that, with diligence and effort, Western Ugandan coffees will be able to take their place alongside the other great East African coffees.
