KENYA passion fruit
∙ pomelo ∙ blackcurrant
Kiunyu is a great example of the
sweeter Kenyan coffees. It’s from
1650 meters high above the sea level in the Kirinyaga region, where the
Kiunyu wet mill operates. It is single variety coffee consisting of SL34 arabica variety only.
K
enya is a country that offers intensive, well-balanced coffees with hints of berries. Sixty five thousand tons of coffee is grown in Kenya every year and more than half of this yield is supplied by about seven hundred thousand small farmers. The unique flavour of Kenyan coffees can be mostly attributed to two things: the wet process used throughout the country and the two main coffee varietals grown on the farms, the SL28 and SL34 arabica varietals that were first bred by the Scot Laboratories.
he works with eight permanent staff members and 12 casual workers during harvest time. Kirinyaga is known for its deep, fertile and well draining red volcanic soils, which are ideal for coffee production. The area experiences moderate bimodal rainfall, and temperatures here range from 13 to 24 °C year round while it undergoes a biennial production cycle with early harvest running from April to June and the late second harvest running from October to December.
Most coffee producers in Kenya are smallholders. Each producer’s total volume might only be a few bags, thus the hundreds of farmers living in the same area are likely to be members of a Farmers Cooperative Society . The Kiunyu factory belongs to the Karithathi Farmers Co-operative Society. The Karithathi FCS has two factories under its umbrella, Kiunyu and Kabingara. Kiunyu Coffee Factory is located within the Kirinyaga district of the central province of Kenya, 1650 meters above the sea level. Matthew Nthiga is the current factory manager and
After harvesting, coffee cherries are delivered to the factory, where it undergoes a fully washed or wet processing method. Water is pumped from the Karithathi river to reservoir tanks for pulping and recirculation. After pulping, the coffee is fermented over night, before it is cleaned, soaked and spread out on raised beds for drying. To ensure that the processing is carried out efficiently, the factory has invested in a pulper, recirculation system and about 20 conditioning bins.
Our coffees taste the best when extracted with water of the proper hardness* range. In order to highlight the best flavour of our roasts we recommend having 5 to 10 days of resting period after roasting, but consume within two weeks of opening. Enjoy!
* Total hardness: 50 –175 ppm CaCO3 (2.9–9.8 °d), ppm CaCO3 (2.2–4.2 °d), pH: 6.5-8.0.
alkalinity/buffer: 40 –75 (The SCAE Water Chart)
photo by The Café Imports
KIUNYU