Notes: Lime, Honeydew & Raw Sugar
Origin: Ngariama, Kenya
Cooperative: Barichu Cooperative Society
Importer: Red Fox Coffee Merchants
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1650 masl
Harvest: Winter 2022
Varieties: SL 28, Ruiru 11, Batian
Kainamui is situated in Ngariama, Gichugu in the Kirinyaga County. It was established in 1963 on the flowing slopes of Mount Kenya. The Kainamui factory has 2,000 members, 1,200 of whom are men and 800 of whom are women. These producers tend to very small plots of land, owning an average of only 200 trees. Farmers benefit from ideal growing conditions for specialty coffee with the mineral-rich, red volcanic loam soils and an altitude of 1,650 meters above sea level. A combination of the 1,800mm of annual rainfall and a temperature of 16-26°C keeps the factory during busy during peak harvest season. As soon as cherry is delivered to the factory, the first stage of fermentation lasts for about 24 hours, after which the beans are washed and sent to the secondary fermentation tank for 12-24 hours. Once fermentation is done, the beans enter the washing channels where floaters are separated further and the dense beans are washed clean. Next, coffees enter soaking tanks where they sit under clean water for another 24 hours. This soaking process allows amino acids and proteins in the cellular structure of each bean to develop which results in more acidity and complex fruit flavors - a quality that distinctively identifies Kenyan coffee.