The Kagunyu factory is a legendary station we visited three years ago. Since, they’ve reserved some of their raised bed space to produce naturals like this one. A shining example of the innovation of simplicity, this natural from Kagunyu is tropical fruit laden, reminiscent of peaches and honeycomb in sweetness. Kenya naturals, contrary to what you may believe, have been in existence for a long while. The prevalence of washed coffees has long kept the quality of these naturals low, due mostly to protocol and crowded drying bed space during harvest. Naturals, when properly dried, require a lot of drying bed space to dry for a long time, taking up to 14-20 days to finish drying. All this leads to the deprioritization of naturals over more commercially viable washed coffees. During our last visit to Kenya, we stopped by KCCE, a cooperative society focusing on exportation and marketing coffees directly for producers. Over the course of a day, we cupped hundreds of coffees, representing microlots from single producers to large estate coffees. The final table consisted of naturals and experimental anaerobic naturals, the standouts being traditional naturals from Thunguri and Kagunyu, which we contracted on the spot. Kagunyu Station As a part of the Rumukia Coffee Farmer Society in Nyeri, the Kagunyu station is located on the Karatina region. Like most of the coffee produced in this region, these coffees are grown by small-holder farmers located at the foothills of Mt. Kenya and Aberdare. These producers are much like smaller farmers located elsewhere in the world, growing produce which will consist of a much larger lot once it’s processed. For this particular natural, red ripe cherries were selected and floated to separate out the less dense floaters to ensure high quality in the end cup. Read more on processing below.