Kenya Karuthi AB

Nyeri County features cool temperatures and fertile central highlands. It lies between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mt. Kenya. Nyeri town, the county headquarters, serves as a destination for visitors to Aberdare National Park and Mt. Kenya. The region's fertile soil, seasonal rainfall, and high altitude create an ideal climate for coffee cultivation. This environment produces coffees with high acidity, full body, and ripe fruit flavors. The cool nighttime temperatures at high altitudes cause the coffee beans to develop slowly, resulting in dense, hard beans with high acidity and complexity.

Built in the 1980s between the Rwarai and Chinga rivers, Karuthi is one of the younger factories in Othaya, and its production volume is typically lower than most of the other neighbouring factories. This lower quantity of cherry makes quality control a bit easier during the peak of the harvest.

To produce this lot, the ~400 farmer members of the co-operative will contribute their coffee. It will then be pulped, before allowing them to ferment for 12-48 hours depending on the weather, then they will be washed to remove the last of the mucilage. After this, the beans are dried on raised African beds over the course of 2-3 weeks until the moisture level is about 12%. The co-op has a dry mill where the beans are rested in parchment for 3 weeks before hulling, cleaning and grading by size.

Up there with the most renowned coffee producing regions, Kenya is the world’s 16th largest grower and the fifth largest in Africa.

Kenya’s coffee history, like so many producing countries around the world, is inescapably linked to colonialism. Although it shares a border with Ethiopia, widely believed to be the birthplace of coffee, the plant was only brought to Kenya by missionaries in the late 19th century. Under British colonial rule, coffee was concentrated on British-owned private estates and grown primarily for export. The Coffee Act of 1933 established a Kenyan Coffee Board, and in 1934 an auction system was created to centralise the sale of coffee, a system that is still in use today.

The Mau Mau rebellion of 1952-60, which led to the country’s eventual independence, provided the impetus to transfer control over coffee production from Britain to the Kenyan people. Since then a series of reforms has allowed Kenyan producers more control over their production, and the country’s research establishment has encouraged constant quality improvements.

The Kenyan grading system uses size as the primary indicator, with AA including the largest and AB the second largest beans. Of course there are many other factors involved in a coffee’s quality aside from bean size, and many experts now regard AB as the superior grade for Kenyan coffee.

Did you know?

• Coffee grown in the foothills of the extinct Mount Kenya is highly sought after, due to lush red volcanic soil high in nutrients and organic matter that provide the perfect growing medium.
• Smallholders often grow coffee alongside other cash crops such as potatoes, bananas, mangoes, and avocados in addition to livestock.
• Like so many other coffee regions around the world, Kenya is at serious risk from climate change. Coffee is a delicate plant and extremely susceptible to adverse climate events. Rising temperatures, lack of rain, and generally erratic weather patterns are causing devastation for many producers worldwide. The berry borer beetle and diseases such as coffee leaf rust have impacted Kenyan farms at ever higher altitudes.

Sources: Mercanta, The World Atlas of Coffee, Deutsche Welle, Wikipedia, World Coffee Research

Our speciality coffees are 100% traceable and ethically sourced. We work direct with farmers, or through trusted partners, to bring you the best coffee from around the world.

Sourced in partnership with: Falcon Coffees
Producer relationship length: 1 year