Gakuyu-ini AA - Kenya

This is an Omni-roasted coffee which means it is roasted to highlight the flavour of the coffee and will work well in all brew methods. Farm info Gakuyu-ini is our latest offering from Kenya. This exceptional micro-lot from the Thirikwa Cooperative Society showcases the rich terroir of Mt. Kenya. Gakuyu-ini is located in Kyrinyaga County in the central highlands of Kenya. The factory is a member of the Thirikwa Cooperative Society. The factory is set in a beautiful, fertile and forested location and is surrounded by thousands of smallholder subsistence farmers who grow coffee as a cash crop alongside potatoes, bananas, mangos and avocados. The average altitude of these smallholdings is approximately 1,650 masl, which is one of the key factors in producing beans with outstanding flavour. The growers have the advantage of deep and rich soils that were created from the ash of the extinct volcano – Mount Kenya. Coffee varieties used by the farmers are mainly SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian and SL28 grafted onto Ruiru rootstock. The latter combines the hardy and disease-resistant properties of Ruiru 11 with the outstanding cup quality of SL28. Process: The Gakuyu-ini factory processes coffee using methods typical throughout Kenya. Local people are paid to pick the ripe coffee cherries between October and January. The ripe cherries are pulped using disc pulpers in the wet mill. The beans are transported by water flows to larger tanks, and in this process additional selection happens: as the mucilage-coated beans float in water, the lighter beans that remain on the surface are removed, and the beans that sink to the bottom are then placed at the tanks. The beans are separated in three separate channels for three grades of parchment coffee: P1, which is the best, P2 and P3. The parchment coffee is then channelled into large tanks where dry fermentation occurs during the following 24 hours or so. Once the mucilage is loose, the beans take on a pebble-like feel and so the fermentation process is halted by washing the beans in channels full of water. Here further quality separation takes place: low-grade ‘floaters’ are flushed away from the dense high-quality beans. After washing, the parchment coffee is channelled to a soak tank where it sits in cold water for around 24 hours, during which the amino acids develop within the beans, which are thought to contribute to Kenyan coffee’s unique flavours. Subsequently the parchment is laid in a thin layer upon raised beds and allowed to dry under the sun for between 11 and 14 days. The coffee then undergoes a period of storage or ‘resting’ before being delivered to a mill, where the parchment will be removed and the coffee screened and cleaned to remove any defects. It will then be graded by size to create AA, AB, PB grades, and finally, it will be packed in grain-pro lined bags or in vacuum packs ready for export.