Kenya
Karimikui - Kenya
250g
*Terroir Best Lot*
QUALITY SCORE: 89.75
Cup Notes
Blackcurrant / Honeydew / Cream soda / Honey / Apricot
Suggested for espresso and filter
when we roast
We freshly roast to order all coffees on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding national holidays), and ship the same day! Cut-off time is 11:59pm (UTC+1) of the day before the roast day. *We only ship whole beans*
Details
- Quality Score
- 89.75
- Producer
- Several small farmers
- Country
- Kenya
- Terroir
- Kirinyaga
- Altitude
- 1700-1900 mt
- Process
- Classic Washed - Raised Beds
- Arabica cultivar
- SL28
- Picked in
- January 2018
- Arrived in
- September 2018
- Shipped in
- Box + Vacuum pack
- Roast profile by
- Rubens Gardelli
- Roasted on
- Customised solid-drum roaster
THE STORY BEHIND
The Karimikui factory is located in Ngairiama in the Gichugu division of Kirinyaga district in Central Province. It is one of 3 factories, along with Kiangoi and Kii, which make up the Rungeto Farmers Co-op Society. This co-op was established in 1953 and now has around 3507 members. Each smallholder member has around a hectare of land for growing coffee alongside vegetables for the family. The area has rich and fertile red volcanic soil at altitudes of 1700 to 1900 metres above sea level and receives between 1600 and 1900mm of rainfall annually.
THE VARIETY
SL28 was bred by Scott Laboratories in 1931 from Tanganyika D.R, and has become very popular throughout Kenya and is recognised as a variety of exceptional cup quality. It has wide leaves with coppery tips. Beans are wide and productivity comparatively low. Though it is not substantiated that we can find, some sources claim that Scott Labs crossed mutations of French Mission, Mocha and Yemen Typica to produce the SL 28 variety. No matter the exact genetic composition, almost certainly their original goal was to create a plant with high quality, reasonable productivity and great drought resistance.
THE FERMENTATION PROCESS
The coffee is handpicked by smallholder members and delivered to the Karimikui factory where it is pulped. This initially separates the dense beans from the immature ‘mbuni’s (floaters) using water floatation which means the denser beans will sink and be sent through channels to the fermentation tank. This first stage of fermentation will last for around 24 hours, after which the beans are washed and sent to the secondary fermentation tank for another 12-24 hours. Once the fermentation process is completed, the beans enter the washing channels where floaters are separated further and the dense beans are cleaned of mucilage. The washed beans will then enter soaking tanks where they can sit under clean water for as long as another 24 hours. This soaking process allows amino acids and proteins in the cellular structure of each bean to develop which results in higher levels of acidity and complex fruit flavours in the cup - it is thought that this process of soaking contributes to the flavour profiles that Kenyan coffees are so famed for. The beans are then transferred to the initial drying tables where they are laid in a thin layer to allow around 50% of the moisture to be quickly removed. This first stage of drying can last around 6 hours before the beans are gathered and laid in thicker layers for the remaining 5-10 days of the drying period.
