This season; we have all had to adapt, however, we still have some incredible coffees coming to our shores and Kenyan coffee is always a highlight. Almost any country producing a high acidity coffee with some complexity will be bench-marked by a great Kenyan coffee, particularly if it is slightly citric and blackcurranty. With this lot, we are talking coffee that is more fruit juice than coffee.
Kenya Gitura AB
Gitura Coffee Factory; Iyego Coffee Growers Co-operative
Varietals: SL28, SL34 and Ruiru 11
Process: Fully washed and dried on raised beds.
Altitude: 1500-1700 Meters above sea level
Producers: Of the 8,000 members of the Iyego producers Co-operative, about 1150 deliver to this mill/ Factory.
Nearest Town: Kangema
Region: Muranga County
Cup Potential: Aromatically this is a tropical and citric fruit burst! Body: Light Acidity: Primarily citric.
Initially, this is deeply blackcurranty with background citrus. As the coffee liquor starts to cool, the fruit complexity and the acidity increases. Bags of bright lime, brown sugars and black currant.
Recipe: 60-70g per litre
Situated to the east of Aberdare ranges and South West of Mt. Kenya, Muranga County (formerly part of Kenya’sCentral Province) was home to the first administrative post( Fort Smith) set up by British missionaries in 1895. The area is inhabited and considered home to the Kikuyu people, Kenya’s largest ethnic group, accounting for nearly a 5th of the total population. Gitura, the name of the factory where this coffee was produced, is a Kikuyu word translating as locality. The land surrounding Muranga County is blessed with deep red volcanic soils, rich in organic matter, perfect for coffee farming.
Gitura is the largest of 10 factories owned by the Iyego Coffee farmers Co-operative. There are many smallholder farmers that supply the factory, as is common in Kenya. The Quality of sorting and processing at Gitura is stringent and as many driven coffee factories in Kenya, the all-important Cherry Clarke has the power to reject any unripe, broken, or inconsistent cherry deliveries. These then have to go back to the smallholder, without payment.
