About This Coffee
Rwambiti Factory is one of the 12 wet mills owned by Baragwi Fcs Ltd. Built in the early 1960s, it has 1,000 members who deliver cherries to the wet mill for processing. The washing station is named after the area, which means "a place of hyenas," and is located on the slopes of Mt. Kenya, with rich red volcanic soils and an annual average rainfall of 1,000 to 1,200 mm.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Farmers selectively handpick ripe cherries, and after harvesting, ripe cherries are selectively sorted by hand at the wet mill’s sorting shed to ensure only the highest quality fruit is processed. Once the cherries are carefully selected, they are weighed and pulped on the same day to preserve their freshness and flavor potential.
The coffee undergoes a fully washed process with dry fermentation lasting between 12 and 16 hours. Following fermentation, the parchment is washed with clean water to remove any remaining mucilage, then spread on raised beds to dry naturally under the sun. Drying typically takes 10 to 20 days, depending on weather conditions.
AA Grade
Kenyan coffees are classified by size. AA beans are the largest size. AA grade coffees are those that are 17/18 screen size, meaning that they are larger than 7.2 millimeters.
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.