We’ve had the pleasure of indulging in Lucky Charms lattes at Élan Café in London and we’ve raced over to ZombieRunner in Palo Alto, California for its licorice coffees, but it’s Question Coffee that keeps our jet lagged brains on point when we’re in Kigali, Rwanda. Most travelers heading to Rwanda come for the mountain gorillas, but fall in love with the country for a million other reasons. One of those reasons is usually the country’s delightful coffee.

We came across Question Coffee’s buttery beans right before we began our first hike in Volcanoes National Park. In the meeting area, a small booth was set up serving coffees and cappuccinos. At the time we were fully caffeinated, but intrigued. The cheerful baristas behind the counter informed us that Question Coffee had a more formal sit down café in Kigali and that the company also offered coffee classes and tours. We snagged a card and made it a point to visit the café before our long flight back to the States.

Rwanda is small country (it’s nearly the same size as Maryland), but its annual bean output is substantial. According to The New Times, this year alone Rwanda is expected to export 26,000 tons of green coffee worth approximately $80 million. Question Coffee is a Relationship Coffee Institute project and is part of a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Question Coffee sells whole beans, grounds and a wide array of caffeine related tchotchkes that make for fun souvenirs. In addition to the usual café suspects (affogatos, cold brews, espressos, lattes, etc.) they also craft a number of seasonal specials. Our personal favorite was one called the pink and bold cold brew which consists of 18 hour cold brew coffee, passion fruit and tree tomato syrup, a hint of brown spiced syrup and fresh local dairy milk served in a frosty cold mug.

We were there during the summer months, so the offerings included things like a cucu-mint iced American made with mint cucumber syrup, ginger, filtered iced water and espresso. For non-coffee lovers they also had a red sky soda (made with hibiscus and strawberry syrup mixed with sparkling water and garnished with strawberries) as well as a gooseberry and cucu-mint soda (mint, cucumber and gooseberry syrups combined with sparkling water and topped off with actual gooseberries).
We get depresso over bad espresso. Curious about some of the other amazing coffee spots we’ve taste tested around the globe? Here are some of our favorite cafés around the world.
The food options are limited. When we went in the afternoon pain au chocolate, a plain croissant and a pretzel were listed, but none of them were available, so best to plan for a coffee centric visit, especially if you’re visiting later in the day. Whether you’re looking to support local Rwandan women, searching for a unique item to bring back home or just a solid cup of joe, Question Coffee is one caffeine pit stop we highly recommend you make.

Question Coffee
Address: Gishushu – KG8 Avenue #8, Kigali, Rwanda
Hours: Monday Through Friday 7:00am to 6:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 8:00am to 5:00pm
Email: info@questioncoffee.com
Pricing (All in Rwandan Francs or RWF):
– Espresso 1,500
– Espresso with a Bit of Milk 2,000
– Espresso with More Milk 2,500
– Specialty Coffee 2,500
– Chemex for Sharing (3-4 People) 3,500
– Cold Brew 2,500
– Hot or Iced Mocha 3,000
– Caramel Affogato 2,500
– Sweet Spicy Latte 3,000
– Hot or Iced Chocolate 3,000
– Special Tea 3,000
– Iced Tea 2,000
– Specialty Soda (Seasonal Flavors on Offer) 2,000
– Signature Seasonal Drinks 2,500 to 3,000
– Pain au Chocolat or Croissant 1,500
– Pretzel 1,000
We get it, it’s tough work reading word after word about delicious cups of coffee. Give your pointer finger some much needed exercise after all that heavy scrolling you just did. If you enjoyed our article on Question Coffee let us know. Please click the “like” button with a star on it at the bottom of this post, share the link to this article via your social media handles or email this article to someone you know who might be heading to Kigali.
If you’re feeling super ambitious, we’d love it if you’d buy us a cup of coffee, so we can visit and review even more awesome places for you!
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