Rwanda

Rwanda is a small African country that most people have only heard of because of all the terrible things that have happened there. I should probably be more specific, huh? This particular bowl of sad history (part of this complete breakfast!) is located in central Africa, just south of the Equator. Rwanda was a Germany colony from 1884 until World War I, when it was claimed by the Belgians, whose prowess at destroying the lives of dark-skinned people once nearly matched their waffle-making chops. The Belgians ruled through the Rwandan monarchy, favoring the Tutsi tribe over their main rivals, the Hutu, building up massive resentment between the two, which, in an event that was completely without precedent in African colonial history, led to civil war and ethnic cleansing. Up to a million people were killed by Hutu rebels during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, and that number could easily have been higher without the heroic actions of people like Don Cheadle. Rwanda is currently a major exporter of coffee beans, good for late nights awake in bed thinking about how humankind is a pitiable, hopeless race, cursed from the beginning of time to forever repeat the blunders of history.

Rwandan coffee farmers sorting the beans for Starbucks' new blend: ultra-dark, with hints of chocolate and regret.