Bourbon Coffee on L Street in Downtown lets you do something good everyday. Both a shop and its own roaster, Bourbon is committed to providing sustainably sourced, fair trade coffees that also abound in good taste.

Drawing from different regions of Rwanda, Bourbon spotlights five particular coffees: Muhazi, Akagera, Kizi Rift, Virunga, and Kivu. On a blindingly hot day,
we ordered an iced coffee and an iced mocha that seemed to float across our tongues. The iced mocha’s ratio of milk to espresso was spot-on, while the flavor of the iced coffee needed neither milk nor sweetener to round it out. While the sun pounded the shop’s façade, inside it was cool: cushy seating was set up into several distinct “rooms,” each one with a central point. Deep red walls and handmade baskets and paintings made for an atmosphere that felt steeped in layers of meaning.

Curious about the coffee’s sources and the offer of “coffee sangria,” we asked the baristas a number of questions that they answered kindly and in depth, even handing us literature to peek at.
As we left we noticed the Kinyarwandan phrase painted on the window: “Murakaza neza,” or "We welcome you with blessings." Coming or going, Bourbon Coffee is a cup you can feel good about.