Cafeography
Kigali

Specialty coffee in Kigali

Roasters at origin: Rubia, Question Coffee and Kivu Noir, with tastings and masterclasses.

Photo: cottonbro studio, Pexels License

Kigali's specialty cafés mostly serve Rwandan coffee roasted in the country. NAEB's register of coffee roasters lists 52 firms, including Question Coffee, Caferwa (maker of the Kivu Noir and Tora brands), Rubia Coffee Roasters and One Cup Roasters.1 Most of what they roast is high-grown arabica of the Red and Yellow Bourbon types, and several make a point of telling you where each coffee comes from.2

The cafés cluster in Kimihurura and Gishushu, where Rubia and Question Coffee are a short ride apart, with Kivu Noir's branch downtown and Cowboy Speciality Coffee in Nyamirambo.

Local tip: For a cupping rather than a cup, Kivu Noir runs cupping sessions and Question Coffee's masterclass ends with a blend you take home.2

Where these cafés are: Kimihurura (2), City Centre & Kiyovu (1), Remera & Kimironko (1), Nyamirambo (1).

At a glance

5Cafés listed
1With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
19:00Latest closing

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Rubia: from two tonnes to twenty

Rubia began roasting in 2018 at two tonnes a year and now roasts about 20, with a target of 100 tonnes within five years. Five-star hotels, offices and other hospitality businesses buy its beans, and some roasted coffee is exported to the Middle East.3 The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops placed it 54th in its 2026 list, unveiled at CoffeeFest Madrid on 16 February.3

At the KG 2 Ave café, Sprudge recommends the pour-over, a medium-roast natural-process coffee with dark chocolate and dark berry notes.2

Question Coffee's roastery and masterclass

Question Coffee works with Sustainable Growers, formed in 2013 by Bloomberg Philanthropies with the importer Sustainable Harvest, and reinvests its sales in training women farmers in agronomy and business.4 The Gishushu café roasts in small batches on a Giesen roaster at the back of the shop and pours espresso drinks, filter coffee and cold brew, with only croissants, pain au chocolat and pretzels to eat.4

Question Coffee opened in November 2015 as a sneak-preview espresso bar seating about 15 while its permanent Kigali café was still under construction; Sustainable Harvest's chief executive, David Griswold, presented it as a way of working with women farmers.5 One of its coffees, Mayogi, comes from a farm in Gicumbi that employs 2,500 farmers, more than 1,500 of them women.4

Its Specialty Coffee Masterclass starts with picking cherry and ends with a blend you make and take home. Tasting wheels help you choose; the Question Everything blend tastes of dark chocolate, hazelnut, brown sugar and orange.2

Kivu Noir and Caferwa

Kivu Noir has two cafés, its flagship in Kimihurura and a branch inside Norrsken House, the coworking hub downtown, and offers cupping sessions.2 Its coffee is arabica from Lake Kivu estates, and its parent company, Caferwa, runs five farms.62 The Norrsken branch at 3 KN 78 St opens daily from 07:00 to 19:00, and Kivu Noir's menu runs to a rosemary latte and an iced cascara spritz.2

Beans, bookings and other origins

Rubia sells roasted beans and brewing equipment alongside pastries and meals, and Brewvox counts Kivu Noir among the pricier cafés in Kigali.7 Question Coffee's tasting classes can be booked ahead.6

To compare origins, Golden Coffee Roastery on KG 9 Ave, a roaster from Addis Ababa, adds Ethiopian, Kenyan and Burundian coffees to its mostly Rwandan list on some days, Yirgacheffe among them.2

Sources

  1. Coffee roasters, National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), accessed October 2026
  2. The Sprudge Guide to Coffee in Kigali, Rwanda, Sprudge (Tidenek Haileselassie, February 17, 2026), accessed October 2026
  3. Kigali-based Rubia Coffee Roasters among world's top 100 coffee shops: Why it matters, The New Times via allAfrica (Prince Ruzigana, March 4, 2026), accessed October 2026
  4. In Rwanda, Question Coffee Is Much More Than Kigali's Favorite Coffee Shop, Sprudge (Giulia Mule, November 6, 2019), accessed October 2026
  5. The Question Coffee Espresso Bar Is Now Open in Kigali, Rwanda, Daily Coffee News (November 23, 2015), accessed October 2026
  6. The best cafés in Kigali, Living in Kigali (updated 2025), accessed October 2026
  7. Best Kigali Coffee Shops: Guide to Rwanda's Specialty Coffee Scene, Brewvox (January 20, 2023, updated February 2026), accessed October 2026
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By area: City Centre & Kiyovu Kimihurura Remera & Kimironko

FAQ

Specialty coffee in Kigali: questions

Which specialty coffee shop in Kigali is on The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list?

Rubia Coffee Roasters, on KG 2 Ave in Kimihurura, ranked 54th in The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026, the first Rwandan café on the list. It began roasting in 2018 at two tonnes a year and now roasts about 20 tonnes, selling to hotels and offices and exporting some to the Middle East.

What happens at the Question Coffee specialty masterclass in Kigali?

Question Coffee's Specialty Coffee Masterclass at its Gishushu café starts with picking coffee cherry and ends with a blend you make and take home. The café roasts in small batches on a Giesen roaster and reinvests its sales in training women coffee farmers.

Where can you drink Kivu Noir specialty coffee in Kigali?

Kivu Noir has a flagship café in Kimihurura and a branch inside Norrsken House downtown, at 3 KN 78 St, open daily from 07:00 to 19:00. It offers cupping sessions. Kivu Noir is a brand of Caferwa, which appears on the NAEB register of Rwandan coffee roasters.

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