Kenya

Gichuka AA

Within the Kiambu County is the Gichuka Coffee Factory, belonging to the Kimaratia Farmers’ Cooperative Society (FCS). In Kenya, factories are essentially wet mills and collection points for coffee.
The FCS was originally created by the now defunct Kiamwangi coffee group, a large cooperative in the area. Currently, the FCS manages three factories: Gichuka, Gachika, and Gitare. The Gichuka Factory was initiated in 1985, the youngest of the three. Producers deliver their cherries to the Factory that is closest to their homes.

Farm Gichuka Factory
Varietal Ruiru 11, SL 28, SL 34
Process Fully washed
Altitude 1,800 – 1,850 meters above sea level
Region Kiambu County
Owner Kimaratia FCS
Tasting Notes Rhubarb, blood orange, bright

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Gichuka AA

After the producers gather their ripe cherries, they will deliver them to the Factory. Once the cherries reach the mill, the coffee is pulped to remove the external fruit from the coffee bean. The coffee is then soaked in cement tanks overnight to break down the remaining mucilage. The following morning, the coffee is cleaned once more through channels of water and dispersed on raised beds to dry in the open sun until the ideal moisture content is reached.

About Kenya

Despite its proximity to the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia, coffee growing was introduced in Kenya relatively late – by Scottish missionaries, initially, and then commercially around 1900. Despite the late start, today, it is a country renowned for having some of the best coffees in the world. Nonetheless, Kenya’s coffee sector faces challenges for the future, and low global prices combined with climate change and population growth have diminished the country’s output over the last decade.