This outstanding coffee showcases all the richness of Kenyan coffee tradition. It is an AB grade lot, rather than the more standard Kenya AA. Sorting in Kenya is done by bean size, and Kenya AA grade is granted to the biggest beans, just over one-fourth inch in diameter, while Kenya AB is slightly smaller. Most of the industry views AA as the gold standard, but we are more interested in the cup quality than the beans' visual appearance, and this coffee is one of the best of Kenyan washed lots in 2021-2022 harvest. The Mutheka Farmers' Cooperative Society (FCS) consists of more than 6,000 active farmer members, and approximately 900 of them use the Kigwandi washing station (factory). The factory, which is part of the Mutheka FCS, uses hydroelectric power from the Kagumo River to run its operations. Smallholder farmers delivering cherry to the Kigwandi factory have an average of 207 coffee trees each and generally farm food crops alongside their small coffee plots. At the Kigwandi Factory, cherries are collected from the farmers in the region and bulked together, and then fermented in tanks for 48 hours. Thereafter, the beans are soaked for the second, 24-hour fermentation. Once the mucilage is removed, the coffee parchment is taken to raised beds to dry for 2-3 weeks depending on the weather conditions. The double fermentation, often referred to simply as “Kenya Washed” contributes to incredible deep sweetness and complex acidity of this coffee.
Floral
Blood Orange
Dill
Type
Blend
Origin
Nyeri, Kenya
Species
Arabica
Varieties
SL-28, SL-34
Process
Washed
Altitude
1600-1700m
Producer
Mutheka Farmers' Cooperative Society (FCS)