• Producer: Kagunyu Washing Station
• Region: Mukurweini, Nyeri
• Altitude: 1,800 MASL
• Variety: SL-28, SL-34, Riuru 11, Batian
• Grade: NH (Natural Heavy)
• Harvest Method: Manually Picked
• Process: Natural
• Drying Time: 48 Hour Tarp Covered, Sun Dried on Raised Beds For 21 Days

Processing

The cherries for this lot were delivered to the washing station the same day that the cherries were harvested. Kamavindi started by floating the coffee. Floating entails putting the red cherries in a container filled with water, removing the floating cherries, and separating the dense cherries that remain underwater. The cherries that float are mainly the insect-damaged beans, overripe beans, diseased berries and cherries of lesser quality and grade. The floating also acts as a means of pre-washing the coffee, ensuring less dirt gets into the fermentation tanks. The processing area should be spotless. No leftover beans should be seen anywhere in the pulping area, in the pulping machine, or in the fermentation tanks in order to reduce the risk of contamination.

Once the sorting and floating work has been completed. The coffee underwent 48 hours of dry fermentation covered by a tarp to allow the coffee to develop those big red fruit flavors by speeding up the fermentation. Following the initial 48 hours, the coffee is then placed on the raised drying beds to dry for 21 days.

Kagunyu Washing Station

The Kagunyu Washing Station is part of a larger cooperative society, Rumukia farmers’ co-op, to incentivize the production of Kenyan naturals in collaboration with Kamavindi. The fermentation, drying and milling were done by Kagunyu. Being part of the Rumukia FCS, Kagunyu has access to the dry mill owned and operated by Rumukia. Kamavindi has come in to guide and oversee the processing at Kagunyu. Once the coffee was milled, Kamavindi collected the coffee from the Rumukia dry mill and held the coffee at Africa Global Logistics for further processing and export. The further post-harvest processing at AGL was hand-sorting and running the coffee through multiple runs on the density tables to enhance further the overall lot quality and consistency of the coffee.

Over the years, our importer La Baia & Kamavindi have collaborated an a naturals project, starting off the project with Thunguri (Kitsune), this has created a resurgence in the local coffee economy for local producers and has allowed them to revive the dry mill. Today, the mill is being used by three different washing stations: Thunguri, Kagunyu, and Gatura to expand the production of not only high-level naturals & experimentals, but also the milling of super-tasty washed coffees that we have grown to love from Kenya. This has been made possible through the partnership between the farmers, Kamavindi, La Baia and every individual supporting partner roaster who values traceability and fair prices over cheap, unsustainable coffee.