Tegu Nyeri AA

Located in Nyeri County, Kenya, Tegu Factory is one of the wet mills operated by the Tekangu Farmers’ Cooperative Society (FCS), along with Karogoto and Ngunguru. The name “Tegu” means “low place,” as it lies in the foothills between Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare Range.  

Established in 1969, Tekangu FCS currently works with 1,200 smallholder farmers. Most farmers cultivate less than one hectare across the five villages of Karatina. Cool climate and fertile volcanic soil create optimal conditions for growing high-quality coffee, resulting in complex and memorable cups. This Fully washed AA lot is characterized by fresh citrus notes and a delicate floral aroma with exceptional cup clarity.  

Located at an altitude of 1,700 meters above sea level, smallholder farmers in the region benefit from a cool mountainous climate and fertile volcanic soil. These factors are crucial: they promote an ideal environment that slows the development of the coffee cherry, allowing complex sugars and acids to accumulate, resulting in bright, winey citrus-forward flavors that Kenyan coffee is famous for.  

Farmers delivering to Tegu cultivate SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 and a few Batian varieties in small coffee gardens that are, on average, smaller than 1 hectare. 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.  

Batian is a relatively new variety introduced by the Kenya Coffee Research Institute (CRI) in 2010. Batian is named after the highest peak on Mt. Kenya and is resistant to both CBD and CLR. The variety has the added benefit of early maturity, cropping after only two years. Similar to Batian, Ruiru 11 is a new variety known for its disease resistance and high yields. It also starts yielding fruit after just 2 years.

Smallholders selectively handpick ripe cherries and deliver them to Tegu Factory for processing. At the factory, cherries are carefully sorted to remove any underripe or damaged fruit. Selected cherries are then pulped and fermented for approximately 12 to 16 hours, depending on the weather. Following fermentation, coffee is soaked in clean water for 24 hours before being moved to raised beds in covered greenhouses 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 shown 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 7 to 15 days for parchment to dry. Once the drying process is completed, parchment is bagged, milled and ready to export.  

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.

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. 

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

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.

Nyeri County is one Kenya's most famous growing regions. 

The name Nyeri is derived from the Masaai word nyiro, meaning red, after the red volcanic soil in the area. The name was adapted by white settler farmers to Nyeri. Most farmers in the area today grow tea and coffee as cash crops. Coffee varieties in the region are usually a mix between SL 28, SL 34 (roughly 80%)  Batian and Ruiri 11.