Kiamutuira, Kenya

About this coffee We continue exploring Kirinyaga. After Mutitu, the second of the five Kenyan coffees we selected this harvest takes us to Kiamutuira, a washing station located next to the Mount Kenya forest and also part of Mutira Cooperative Society. Kiamutuira was established in 1996 to serve the smallholder farmers of the area, while the cooperative it belongs to has been working with coffee since 1951. Its location, surrounded by the highlands of Kirinyaga and bordering the Mount Kenya forest, combines fertile volcanic soils with an environment particularly well suited to growing both coffee and tea. The station works with around 600 smallholder farmers, each cultivating an average of just 0.1 hectares. Women also represent a particularly significant part of the cooperative’s membership, while most farming families belong to the Kikuyu community. Coffee grows between 1,650 and 1,700 metres, primarily from SL28, SL34 and Batian, under the shade of macadamia trees. This lot has been processed using the washed method. In the cup Kiamutuira shows a noticeably different expression from Mutitu. Vanilla brings a soft, rounded sweetness from the beginning, while lemon introduces clean and defined acidity. Cacao sits underneath, adding structure and depth, while black tea brings everything together with an elegant and persistent finish. Sweet, citrusy and clean.. with that tea-like character becoming more defined as the coffee cools. Why we selected it This year, we wanted to explore Kenya in a little more depth. Rather than selecting a single coffee to represent the country, we chose five different expressions that would allow us to better understand how variety, washing station and place can change the cup, even within the same region. Mutitu was the first. Kiamutuira is the second and, although both come from Kirinyaga and are part of Mutira Cooperative Society, the two cups speak in different ways. Same territory. Different expressions.