About This Coffee
Kasinga Factory is run by Kasinga Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS). Over 650 members deliver cherry to the station.
Kasinga is part of the larger umbrella organisation, the Machakos Co-operative Union, which represents around 28 other F.C.S.s within the county. The Union offers services including education and training and the provision of farm inputs at subsidized prices. Combined with support received from the field agronomy team at Sucafina/Kahawa Bora, farmers in the group are well situated to improve the volume and quality of their coffee.
Cultivation
Most farmers delivering to Kasinga Factory have fewer than 250 trees on their plots of land. These coffee trees, usually a mix of SL-28 and SL-34, are cultivated alongside food crops and fodder for livestock.
Farmers receive agronomy training and support in a wide variety of topics, from pruning methods to soil fertility.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Smallholders selectively handpick only ripe cherry and deliver it to Kasinga Factory. At intake, the Cherry Clerk oversees meticulous visual sorting and floating, accepting only dense, ripe cherry.
After intake, cherry is pulped and fermented for approximately 12 to 16 hours. Following fermentation, coffee is washed clean water and soaked for 12 hours. Then, parchment is laid to dry on raised beds.
Workers rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying. They 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 14 to 18 days for parchment to dry.
About Machokos
Machokos lies to the southeast of Nairobi and is, perhaps, less known than some of the more centrally located coffee-growing regions. The climate is semi-arid, making coffee growing all the more important for the many smallholder farmers who live here.
Farmers in the region face many of the same challenges that farmers in other parts of Kenya do: decreased productivity, aging rootstock and lack of interest in farming by young people. The support of partners such as Sucafina in Kenya (Kenyacof) is crucial to the continuation of the industry.
About Peaberries
PB stands for peaberry. Peaberry is a name given to a very specific shape of coffee bean. In Spanish, peaberries are called “caracol”, which means “snail”. The name aptly describes the shape of the peaberry bean, which appears slightly curved in on itself.
Peaberries are the result of a natural mutation in the coffee cherry. Whereas there are usually two beans nestled together in each fruit, a cherry with a peaberry mutation only forms one bean. Thus, peaberries are a single, rounder bean.
Peaberry mutations occur in approximately 5% of all coffee. The beans are known for being rounder, smaller and denser, which can contribute to a more even roast color when handled correctly. Many people find peaberries to have a sweeter flavor profile, as well.
Since peaberries are a natural mutation that is not visible from the outside of the cherry, peaberries must be sorted out during the screen grading stage of dry milling. The peaberry screens have the smallest holes, which are oblong to allow the rounder beans to fall through.
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.