About This Coffee
Nyamatu Kiburi is a female producer located in Kiambu, Kenya. She cultivates coffee on her estate, Nyamatu Estate, at 1,700 meters above sea level.
Cultivation
Kiambu county has deep red volcanic soils, rich in organic matter and perfect for coffee farming.
Nyamatu makes the most of this. Her farm is planted with a mix of ‘traditional’ SL34 and SL28 coffee trees, and Blue Mountain. The ‘SL’ varieties were cultivars originally released by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (SAL) in the 1930s and 1940s. They soon became the go-to trees for many growers in Kenya due to their deep root structure, which allows them to maximize scarce water resources and flourish even without irrigation.
Blue Mountain is a Typica mutation that was first found and cultivated in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. The variety is also widely cultivated in Hawaii, on Kona Island, where it is typically called “Guatemala.” The variety was also introduced to East Africa in 1894 through Malawi and Rwanda and to West Kenya in 1913. Today it is mainly grown in Hawaii, Jamaica, West Kenya, Rwanda and PNG. Like its Typica ancestor, Blue Mountain does well at high altitudes. It’s also resistant to Coffee Berry Disease (CBD).
Nyamatu receives regular training from Sucafina in Good Agricultural Practices, including fertilizer application, pruning guidance and renovation advice, which helps keep her small farm in optimal condition. Her years of working with Sucafina has enabled her to improve yields and quality, and she looks forward to her hard work paying off by creating new relationships with roasters.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Nyamatu is categorized as a ‘small estate’ in Kenya. This sector has, until recently, been frequently overlooked.
Traditionally, many farmers of this size in the country did not own their own processing equipment. They have historically delivered cherry to a centralized cooperative-owned ‘Factory’ (as washing stations are called, locally), where their production is combined with that of others from their region. Nyamatu, however, has her own, small wet-mill where she is able to process her own coffee, ensuring full traceability back to her farm.
Cherry is selectively handpicked and then pulped. Coffee is then fermented for 12 to 16 hours in a small tank before being washed in clean water to remove any remaining mucilage. All waste water from the washing process is cleaned to ensure environmental impact is limited.
Parchment is soaked for 24 hours and then transferred to raised beds where it sundries for 10 to 20 days. As it dries, parchment is turned regularly to ensure even drying.
About Kiambu
Kiambu is right outside Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi but is nonetheless known for agriculture – specifically coffee and tea. The county is also home of the Kenyan Coffee Research Foundation.
Kiambu County is also well known for its dairy production, and is the largest dairy producing county in Kenya. Many of the growers here adhere to organic fertilizing practices, using only cow manure instead of agrochemicals on their coffee trees.
Farmers in Kiambu face low production due to pests and disease while simultaneously having to pay high prices for inputs. In recent years, many have felt the strain and have sold their land to real-estate developers looking to build on the edge of Nairobi.
AB Grade
Kenyan coffees are classified by size. AB beans are those that are between screen size 15 and 18 meaning that beans are between 6 and 7 millimeters in size.
Coffee in Kenya
Though coffee growing had a relatively late start in Kenya, the industry has gained and maintained a impressive reputation. Since the start of production, Kenyan coffee has been recognized for its high-quality, meticulous preparation and exquisite flavors. Our in-country sister company, Sucafina Kenya, works with farmers across the country to ensure these exceptional coffees gain the accolades they deserve.
Today, more than 600,000 smallholders farming fewer than 5 acres compose 99% of the coffee farming population of Kenya. Their farms cover more than 75% of total coffee growing land and produce nearly 70% of the country’s coffee. These farmers are organized into hundreds of Farmer Cooperative Societies (FCS), all of which operate at least one factory. The remainder of annual production is grown and processed by small, medium and large land estates. Most of the larger estates have their own washing stations.
Most Kenyan coffees are fully washed and dried on raised beds. The country still upholds its reputation for high quality and attention to detail at its many washing stations. The best factories employ stringent sorting practices at cherry intake, and many of them have had the same management staff in place for years.