Kenyan Ground 6kg

Kenya AA Gathima

"This wonderful coffee has delicious and tantalising citrus overtones with a fruity finish. It’s vibrant and a little bit cheeky with a strong, full flavour. And if we’re not mistaken, a good body too."

This coffee comes from the Gathima wet mill, which is part of the Iyego Farmers Cooperative Society in the Murang’a district of Kenya. Gathima started in 1979, with 101 farmers delivering their cherries to it. It now collects together cherries from 400 farmers. Between them they have 74,518 trees, and produced last year 248,000 kgs of red cherry, which yielded 635 bags of green coffee

The AA in Kenya AA Gathima refers to the larger than average-sized bean.

Gathima is located on the windward side of the Abadare mountain range, between the capital Nairobi, and Mt. Kenya. Altitude ranges from 1550-1800 metres above sea level, and the volcanic soils give a vibrancy to the coffees produced. Coffees tend to be fuller in body (taste stronger) the closer the production is to the equator. This coffee is produced almost bang on the equator, and is thus gives a very strong and full flavour. The bulk of the production is Bourbon, with a small percentage being from the Ruiru 11 varietal. This has been recently developed as a disease resistant varietal, but the inclusion of a small percentage of robusta in its production has led some to question whether it tastes as good as the Bourbon. The 10% of Ruiru 11 in this coffee has not led to a noticeable degradation in the flavour profile.

Being right on the equator, Kenyan farmers have the advantage of producing two crops per year, thanks to having two distinct rainy seasons. The long rains come from March to July, and sets off the main flowering. This leads to cherries ripening in September to December. This is referred to as the main crop. The short rains come from October to December, producing a second smaller flowering, which leads to the harvest of a fly crop in April and May.

Farm sizes in Kenya are very small largely due to inheritance traditions by which they are divided up amongst the various children. The average plot of the farmers who produce this coffee is 0.15 hectares. You could get five of their farms on a single football pitch.

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