About This Coffee
Gititu Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) & Factory is one of the oldest cooperatives in Kiambu and remains committed to a high level of transparency. In fact, they invite their members to attend auctions at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange to better understand how their coffees are sold.
The Gititu factory was built in 1954 and was the first wet mill of Gititu FCS Ltd. The cooperative has a total of eight factories, more than 7,000 members and is run by a nine-member management committee along with a three-member supervisory board.
The name “Gititu” comes from the Kikuyu word for “big forest,” a reference to the once-abundant forests in Kiambu. Produced in a region with a rich history of coffee cultivation, this coffee carries the classic profile of Kenya coffee that we all know and love. For this Fully washed AA lot, expect a delicious aroma of black tea, vibrant fruit notes and berry sweetness.
Cultivation
The areas around Gititu Factory typically lie between 1,600 and 1,700 metres above sea level on the slopes of the Aberdare Range. This altitude is critical: it slows the development of the coffee cherry, allowing complex sugars and acids to accumulate that produce the bright, winey citrus-forward flavors that Kiambu coffee is famous for on the international cupping table.
The region experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern. The long rains fall roughly from March to May, and the short rains from October to December. Coffee flowers after a dry period followed by rains, meaning Kiambu typically produces one main crop harvested from October through January, with a smaller fly crop possible in mid-year. The temperature range of 15°C to 24°C and the deep, well-drained, humus-rich red clay soils (classified as nitisols) provide excellent natural conditions, but the farmer's input and agricultural practices are crucial to ensure that this potential is achieved.
Kiambu County is also well known as the largest dairy-producing county in Kenya. Many coffee growers in the region are adhering to organic fertilizing practices, using only cow manure instead of agrochemicals on their coffee trees.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Smallholders selectively handpick only ripe cherries and deliver them to Gititu Factory. At intake, the Cherry Clerk oversees meticulous visual sorting and floating, accepting only dense, ripe cherries. After intake, cherry is pulped and fermented for 12 to 24 hours, depending on the weather. Following fermentation, parchment is washed with clean water and graded to ensure uniform quality. The parchment is then laid to dry on raised beds or solar driers (covered greenhouses). During the drying process, workers rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying. Parchment is covered with a tarp during the hottest time of day, to maintain slow, even drying and at night, to shelter parchment from moisture. It takes approximately 7 to 21 days for parchment to dry. Once the drying is completed, parchment is bagged, milled and ready to export.
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.
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 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.
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
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.