KAIGURI AA | KENYA | NYERI

Country: Kenya
Region: Nyeri
Producer: Mutheka FCS
Elevation: 1600 - 1800 masl
Cultivar: SL 28, SL 34, Ruiru 11
Process: Kenyan double washed

Notes: Lemon, Cherry blossom, Vanilla, Black tea

Kenya’s coffee is dominated by a cooperative system of production, whose members vote on representation, marketing and milling contracts for their coffee, as well as profit allocation. Mutheka Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) includes Chorong’i, Kaiguri, Kiandu, Kamuyu, Kigwandi, Kihuyo, and Muthua-ini factories. It was once part of a massive FCS known as Tetu (named after the sub-county in Nyeri where most of the factories stand), which split into smaller cooperative societies in 2004.  

Across the factories of Mutheka FCS, famer members average 200 trees apiece. Tetu sub-county, where the members live, is right on the edge of Kenya’s Aberdare mountain range—so, combined with the massive biome of nearby Mt. Kenya, is surrounded by high elevation national parks on multiple sides, both of which contribute cold nighttime temperatures, rich soils, and fresh ground water to this corner of Nyeri county. 

As cherry comes to Kaiguri factory it is hand-sorted on intake to eliminate any imperfections and then weighed and logged under the contributing farmer’s name. Cherry is blended and depulped, and then fermented in water for 24 hours. Once fermentation is complete, the parchment is rinsed and moved to raised beds for drying. The drying phase is typically 2-3 weeks for the coffee to reach 10-12% humidity. Finally, fully dried parchment is rested in large, perforated bins on site, a process that allows the bean’s internal moisture to stabilize for the long transit and shelf life ahead.