Rwandan smallholders organise themselves into cooperatives and share the services of centralised wet-mills – or washing stations as they are known locally. Flowering takes place between September and October and the harvest runs from March to July, with shipments starting in August through December

Ibisi Mountain Hills washing station is located in the hills of Southern Rwanda, just a short drive from the Nyungwe Forest, which has been traced as the source of the Nile River. Bernard Uwitije, a native of the area, had been trading non-washed Ordinary coffee up until 2015, when he realized the potential for fully washed specialty grade coffee. He built his first washing station, Gitega Hills, which operated successfully in his first year and he decided to expand the operations by building a second washing station, ibisi and the quality at both stations remain outstanding.

At the station the cherry is delivered, floated, and separated before then being pulped and fermented until the mucilage is loose enough to be washed off. From here the coffee is then washed in the the grading channels with the denser bean separated from the lighter ones. After this the coffee is then skin dried under shade netting for the first 1 -2 days and then transferred to raised beds in the sunshine for the next 15 - 22 days.