What Makes Coffee From Kirinyaga, Kenya So Special - The Origin Story

The Origin Story

Grower

Producers organized around the Kabare Factory

Variety

SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, and Batian

Region

Kirinyaga County, Kenya

Harvest

October-January

Altitude

1700-1900 masl

Soil

Clay loam

Process

Fully washed and dried on raised beds

Tasting Notes: LEMON, BLOOD ORANGE, CARAMEL, BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE

Mt. Kenya, at the helm of Kenya’s Central Province, is the second tallest peak on the continent of Africa and a commanding natural presence. The mountain itself is a single point inside a vast and surreal thicket of ascending national forest and active game protection communities. The central counties of Kenya extend from the center of the national park, like six irregular pie slices, with their points meeting at the peak of the mountain. It is along the lower edge of these forests where, in wet, high elevation communities with mineral-rich soil (Mt. Kenya is a stratovolcano) many believe the best coffees in Kenya, often the world, are crafted. Kirinyaga county is certainly well-known among these central counties for its jammy, exuberant coffees. 

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. It’s not perfect, and in Kenya in particular the number of individual margins sliced off an export price before payment reaches the actual farms is many, leaving only a small percentage to support coffee growth itself, and most often this arrives many months after harvest. However, Kenya coffees are sold competitively by quality, which means well-endowed counties like Kirinyaga achieve very high average prices year after year, and the smallholders here with a few hundred trees at the most are widely considered to be middle class.

 Kenya is of course known for some of the most meticulous at-scale processing that can be found anywhere in the world. Bright white parchment, nearly perfectly sorted by density and bulk conditioned at high elevations is the norm, and a matter of pride, even for generations of Kenyan processing managers who prefer drinking Kenya’s tea (abundantly farmed in nearby Muranga and Kiambu counties) to its coffee. 

Ample ground and river water supply in Kirinyaga has historically allowed factories to wash, and wash, and soak, and wash their coffees again entirely with fresh, cold river water. Conservation is creeping into the discussion in certain places--understandably in the drier areas where water, due to climate change, cannot be as taken for granted—but for the most part Kenya continues to thoroughly wash and soak its coffees according to tradition. Cooperatives at Kabare FCS are no different, sorting their pulped and fermented coffee into 4 different density grades with the use of fresh nearby water, and conditioning the moisture of each grade independently during drying, before transport to the mill.

Kirinyaga Coffee Beans: Kenya

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4 Reasons Why African Coffee Is Revered The World Over

African Coffee is brewed around the world and is in high demand due to its richness, unique flavor notes, and the skilled farmers who tend to the crop.

Africa produces roughly 13% of the global coffee supply, and the continent is also revered for being the birthplace of coffee.

What makes Africa produce some of the best coffee in the world?

1. Rich, Volcanic Soil

 According to Highland Farmers, one of the similarities between coffee and wine is the big impact soil plays in the production process. After all, both start-off as fruit before being transformed into the delicious drink enjoyed by billions of people every day.

 To better understand why soil is so important, it’s helpful to see coffee for what it is: a hungry plant in need of a variety of essential elements to grow. These nutrients impact everything from aroma and taste, to production yield and susceptibility to disease, all of which are delivered through the soil profile. Furthermore, volcanic soil is best for coffee production because it’s rich in nutrients that influence levels of sugar and citric acid and has the ideal pH range - both of which are critical to producing high-quality Arabica coffee. 

Digging a little deeper (all puns intended) into why volcanic soil is ideal reveals a porous soil structure and texture that retains the right amount of water without washing away the soil nutrients needed to grow. In addition, volcanic soil is “new” relative to other types of soil. Meaning its nutrients haven’t been plundered from hundreds of years of intense agricultural farming. 

Africa is blessed with rich volcanic soil across the continent’s coffee-growing regions - so it’s no surprise African coffees are the most revered in the world. And in a final twist, the mountainous terrain that made industrialized farming difficult for past generations allow today’s generation of coffee drinkers to enjoy a better cup of coffee.

2. Natural Processing

When one thinks of coffee-producing countries, Brazil and Colombia are sure to come to mind. However, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda are also among the top-twenty coffee-producing nations. These countries are positioned to boost their production rapidly over the next five-ten years, but only if they can capitalize on domestic demand, successfully market to international buyers, and work towards greater efficiency in their operations. And with top producers like Brazil and Vietnam holding such a large share of global output, any upsets to production in these countries could have great implications for global supplies and trade. Gro Intelligence subscribers can easily monitor weather, trade, and production data to predict coffee market events.

Dry processing, also known as unwashed or natural coffee, is the oldest method of processing coffee. The entire cherry after harvest is first cleaned and then placed in the sun to dry on tables or in thin layers on patios. Coffee cherries are spread out in the sun, either on large concrete or brick patios or on matting raised to waist height on trestles.

As the cherries dry, they are raked or turned by hand to ensure even drying and prevent mildew. It may take up to 4 weeks before the cherries are dried to the optimum moisture content, depending on the weather conditions.

On larger plantations, machine-drying is sometimes used to speed up the process after the coffee has been pre-dried in the sun for a few days, although Kenyan coffee is mainly through the washed process. With the help of Kenya Barista Organization, farmers have gained valuable skills from baristas in order to understand better about coffee to increase production and try out different methods of processing.

Another advantage of natural processed coffee is that it has a lower ecological impact compared to fully washed coffee due to the absence of wastewater. As such, this process helps conserve the environment.

Most coffee growing regions in Africa lie on rich volcanic soils, complemented by the climate that’s most suitable for different varieties of coffee. The climate and natural processing methods used to bring more complexity to coffee that many coffee lovers look for.

3. Paying it Forward

Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia many centuries ago. Since then, coffee has expanded into a $100 billion industry, mostly on the backs of black and brown bodies.

Meanwhile, the economic disrepair in African regions that grow coffee is in such a state that the regions rely on foreign aid, to the equivalent of, well, $100 billion!

In the words, Toronto’s Nia Bangala of Congo Coffee and Mikate House, “Do you know how many hospitals, schools, [and] children programs I could do with that proceeds and not ask for donations?”  

According to CXFFEEBLACK, the theft of coffee from the cradle of civilization is a debt that must not only be paid back but paid forward. While black folks help in producing some of the best coffee in the world, they are paid pennies for their product.

According to Maurice Henderson of CXFFEEBLACK those in the coffee industry must amplify voices that call upon the world to love the effort of those growing and producing coffee-primarily people of color,  as much as the world loves their cash crops. As such, sourcing, highlighting, and elevating our CXFFEEBLACK is more than a measure of goodwill; It’s more than assuaging some guilt of a 400-year old grand larceny. It is a quintessential step in stabilizing the economic disaster left by Colonial White supremacy and the mobilization of one of our planet’s most productive and under-resourced populations.

4.  Africa, The Birthplace of Coffee

In between sipping, your favorite coffee drink brewed from freshly roasted Arabica coffee beans, have you ever wondered where coffee originated? 

According to African Coffee Club, legend has it that a goat herder in Ethiopia named Kaldi, while in search of his missing goats in the forest, found the goats gathered around a coffee tree dancing wildly.

To Kaldi’s surprise, the source of their excitement was a red cherry hanging from several coffee trees. Intrigued by this, Kaldi himself tried the strange cherry and soon found himself dancing alongside his four-legged friends. He shared his discovery of this 'miraculous berry' with monks from a nearby monastery. 

The monks, initially skeptical, wondered why such a simple berry would have such a profound effect on man. Believing it contained satanic supernatural powers, the monks cast the berries into the fire as to exorcise their powers, but they could not resist the coffee's pleasant aroma coming out of the fire. As a result, they ordered that the beans be drunk with hot water "so the goodness may flow through the liquid" and soon the beverage was used exclusively by monks in monasteries. 

And the rest is history! Today, it is estimated that 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed each day across the globe. People in New York are expected to drink 7 times the amount of any other city in America. A study commissioned by the National Coffee Association surveyed 3,000 Americans about their coffee drinking habits. The survey found that 64 percent of Americans drink a cup of coffee every day, up from 62 percent in 2017, and the highest percentage since 2012. Furthermore, 79 percent of participants said that they had brewed a cup of coffee at home the previous day.  African Coffee Club takes coffee lovers to an African coffee safari wherein 2, 4 or 6 weeks based on preference, you receive as 12 oz. bag of freshly roasted coffee from one of the growing regions in Africa.

Every 4 Weeks

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