A delightful mix of SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, and Batian grown by farmers organized around the Kii washing station as a part of Rungeto Cooperative in Kirinyaga, Kenya. The factory itself was constructed in 1995, located at the foot of Mt. Kenya. The Kii River, which runs nearby, gives the factory both its name and clean water. With honeydew and refreshing concurrently herbal and resinous forest berry, this lot is a nice example of Kii's harvest for this year.
Kii AA
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In the southern foothills of Mount Kenya, with red volcanic soil, the areas surrounding Kii factory are excellent for producing really special coffee. Growers here typically cultivate approximately 250 coffee trees on half-acre plots. They then deliver ripe fruit to one of 3 factories managed by an umbrella farmers’ cooperative society (FCS) called the Rungeto Farmers’ Cooperative Society. Smaller in size than other FCS, Rungeto has focused on quality processing and meticulous attention to detail, earning a reputation for delightful coffee and expert processing in Kenya. Only the ripest cherries are delivered, and additional hand sorting and floating is done to remove less dense and damaged beans before the coffee is depulped, fermented and washed.
Processing
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Kenya's coffee landscape is fundamentally shaped by smallholders who deliver to central washing stations known as factories that have made washed coffees their signature. Estates have similarly built their reputations on these meticulously processed lots. While Kenyan producers employ variations of the washed process, they share a distinctive approach: a soaking step initially practiced to put coffee in a holding pattern while drying beds are freed up. This soaking step ultimately sets them apart. The process begins with selective picking and same-day depulping, followed by fermentation in open-air concrete or cement tanks for 24–48 hours. Co-operative members who work at the station then subject the coffee to rigorous washing through water channels before submerging it underwater for 12–72 hours. Finally, the beans spread across raised beds to complete their transformation through drying.
