About This Coffee
Meru has an impressive and storied coffee-growing history. The region was reputedly the first county where indigenous Kenyans were able to grow coffee. The Kenyans growing coffee in Meru in the early 1930s paved the way for the more than 600,000 smallholder farmers who grow coffee in Kenya today.
Ngonyi Factory is one of the wet mills owned by Kianjuri Farmer Cooperative Societies (FCS), along with other wet mills including Gachiege, Gitugu, Ithima, Kiamiriru and Nthungu. Located on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, Meru County, this wet mill works with 800 smallholder farmers who deliver cherries for processing and marketing.
Thanks to optimal weather conditions and careful processing, this Fully washed lot stands out with a distinctive flavor profile. For this coffee, expect a beautiful combination of citrus and floral notes, along with a hint of black tea and white grapes.
Cultivation
Coffee farming in Meru and its surrounds is a primarily smallholder activity. Most farms are under 1 hectare and coffee is cultivated alongside basic food crops.
Farmers delivering to Ngonyi cultivate primarily SL28 and SL34 in small coffee gardens that are, on average, smaller than 1 hectares. The ‘SL’ varieties are 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. Additionally, Ruiru 11 is a new variety known for its disease resistance and high yields. It also starts yielding fruit after just 2 years.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Smallholders selectively handpick only ripe cherries and deliver them to Ngonyi Factory. After intake, cherry is pulped and fermented for approximately 12 to 16 hours. Following fermentation, coffee is soaked in clean water for 24 hours before being moved to raised beds to dry.
Soaking is a step that historically was a method for ‘holding’ coffee in a stable environment until space was made available on the limited space available on drying beds during the peak of the harvest season. More recently, research has show that soaking can add points to the final cup score and, potentially, contributes to a cleaner brighter cup profile.
At the drying stage, the parchment is evenly laid and raked frequently to ensure even drying. Workers cover drying parchment during the hottest time of day to maintain slow, even drying and at night to shelter parchment from moisture. It takes approximately 15 to 21 days for parchment to dry.
About SL28 & SL34
SL28 and SL34 were two of the cultivars released by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (SAL) during the height of SAL’s research in Kenya in the 1930s and 1940s. They soon became the cultivars of choice for most growers thanks to their deep root structure that allows them to maximize scarce water resources and flourish even without irrigation. SL varieties also had higher yields than the French Bourbon rootstock that they replaced and were known to be somewhat more disease resistant.
About Ruiru 11
Ruiru 11, a hybrid of Catimor and SL cultivars, is both Coffee Berry Disease (CBD) and Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) resistant. Plus, it can be planted at a much higher density than the SL varieties, making optimal use of small plots of land.
Ruiru 11 has slowly ‘taken root’ across most of Kenya’s coffee growing landscape. The only issues were that with a shallower root structure, many farmers found the plant less hardy in drought conditions, and the trees required a more intense feeding program. Over time, farmers have found that by grafting Ruiru-11 to SL varieties they could take advantage of SL trees’ expansive root system and still reap the increased yields and higher immunity to disease of Ruiru-11.
Due to the grafted Ruiru-11’s growing popularity, most farms in Kenya today, both big and small, have a mixture of Ruiru-11 and SL varieties. As SL trees age, many farmers are opting to turn more towards Ruiru-11 (or the grafting solution) thanks to its ease of use and higher resistance to diseases.
Source: https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/ruiru-11 & https://sucafina.com/na/news/think-you-know-kenya-coffee-varieties-think-again
About Batian
Developed by Kenya's Coffee Research Institute in 2010, Batian is named after the highest peak on Mt. Kenya and is resistant to both coffee berry disease (CBD) and coffee leaf rust (CLR). The variety has the added benefit of early maturity – cropping after only two years. Some challenges (such as vegetative structure) have prevented it from becoming widespread so far, but its popularity is certainly growing.
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.