Kenya – Coffee Origin
Kenyan coffees are world-renowned for their bold, complex profiles featuring bright acidity, blackberry, tomato, and citrus notes with a clean, juicy finish. Grown at high elevations in the Central Highlands, they are among the most sought-after specialty coffees globally.
CUPPING NOTES: Cherry, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Caramel Bright Acidity,
Smooth Finish
GROWER: 300 smallholder farmers organized around Ena Coffee
Factory
ALTITUDE: 1,600-1,800 MASL
REGION: Embu County, Kenya
SOIL: Volcanic Loam
PROCESS: Fully Washed and Dried on Raised Beds
VARIETALS: SL28, & SL34, and Ruiru 11
HARVEST: April-July | October-December
CERTIFICATION: Conventional
DETAILS: New Runyenjes FCS and Processing Style 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. New Runyenjes Farmers
Cooperative Society (FCS) is an umbrella organization that
represents 3 total factories (centralized wet mills), including
Kangundu, Nduuri, and Ena. Ena's farmer members grow corn, beans,
and tea as well as coffee. Part of New Runyenjes FCS’ management is
consulting on the ideal management of diverse farms, including
sustainable farming trainings and literature. The society also pre
finances their members for pre-harvest inputs and harvesting labor,
as well as family school fees.
At the factory, Ena collects cherry from members daily throughout
the harvest months. The cherry is sorted on arrival for ripeness and
consistency and then blended together for processing: coffee is
depulped with a disc pulper (large, impressive multi-channel
machines originally manufactured in India), is fermented overnight,
washed in fresh water and moved to raised screen tables to dry, a
process that takes 2-3 weeks depending on local climate and
ambient temperatures.
After drying is complete the coffee is conditioned in large perforated
bins on site to allow moisture to stabilize, preparing the coffees for
transit and a long shelf life. The established milling and sorting by
grade, or bean size, is a longstanding tradition and positions Kenya
coffees well for roasters, by tightly controlling the physical
preparation and creating a diversity of profiles from a single
processing batch.