Kihuyo

Kihuyo is a washing station in Kenya’s Nyeri region that processes coffee for the Mutheka Farmer’s Cooperative Society. Member farmers all have quite small tracts of land on which they grow coffee; most are planted with an average of just 160 coffee trees, with SL 28, SL 34 and Ruiru 11 being the most common varieties here. This particular lot was air freighted to us from the most recent harvest to ensure it arrived as it’s peak of freshness and quality. It’s presenting a classic Kenya profile with flavors of jammy berry and tangy citrus layered upon a deep brown sugar sweetness.

Coffee at Kihuyo is first pulped to remove the outer layer and floated in water to remove defects before being transferred to tanks for an initial 24 hour fermentation stage. Then the coffee is washed and sent to a secondary fermentation tank for another 12-24 hours before being floated, sorted and washed again. What remains is clean, dense lots of coffee that will be moved to soaking tanks to sit under water for as long as another 24 hours.

The coffee is then moved to drying tables for an initial drying of about six hours to allow around 50% of the moisture to be quickly removed. Finally, lots are distributed to raised beds where they dry fully for 5-10 days.