Kenya, Kagumo, Washed

As we still have a bit of cold weather in front of us, we look for Kenyan coffees as a bit of a coffee escape to get us up in the morning. We seldom say this, but this coffee is luscious, coating the tongue with a cherry limeade sensation with dark chocolate lingering as it cools. Summer coffee flavors at its best. 

The Story

Kagumo Coffee Factory is located in Muranga District, Gitugi location of Mathioya Division near Muranga town (10 kms from town).It was established in 1980s and rests on an 3.2 hectare piece of land serving Kiangoma, Gathiraini, Ruiru and Nyangiti villages. Currently it is affiliated to Mutira Farmers Co-operative Society.
Its membership stands at 300. Kagumo Coffee Factory is managed by John Muchir and his team of 3 permanent members of staff. The area experiences a biannual production cycle with the early harvest being from March-May and the late second season being November-January.

After picking, ripe cherry is brought to the factory before it undergoes processing to remove the skin and pulp – known as the wet processing method. Waste water is discarded in soaking pits, and is also recirculated for
conservation. The factory is using a disc pulper with three sets of discs to remove the skin and fruit from the inner parchment layer that is protecting the green coffee bean. After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight to break down the sugars, before it is cleaned, soaked and spread out on the raised drying tables. Time on the drying tables depends on climate, ambient temperature and volumes under processing, and can take from 7 to 15 days in total.