About This Coffee
Joel & Julia Njoroge Gakubu’s farm, Juliana Farm, carries a rich history rooted in a longstanding family tradition of coffee farming. Joel inherited the farm from his father, who had been cultivating coffee since 1980. Together with his siblings, Joel continues the family legacy by farming coffee and delivering it to a Farmers’ Cooperative Society (FCS), where traceability is maintained throughout processing.
Looking ahead, Joel and Julia have a clear vision for the future: to continue producing and processing specialty coffee. By focusing on specialty coffee, they aim to showcase the unique flavors and characteristics of their microclimate and cultivation efforts.
Cultivation
Joel and Julia take great pride in practicing regenerative agriculture. They use pruning, cycle change, minimum tillage and agroforestry techniques. They believe in practicing these methods because they not only ensure the sustainability of the land but also contribute to the overall health and biodiversity of the farm’s ecosystem.
They primarily rely on family labor, mostly Joel and Julia with help from family members. Together, they work tirelessly to manage and supervise the operations and maintain a hands-on approach to ensure the highest standards of quality and care. During peak seasons, they also hire laborers to support the increased workload.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Joel and Julia and their hired workers selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and deliver it to a factory to be processed. From intake to dry milling, coffee from Juliana Farm is processed separately and remains traceable back to their farm. At intake, cherry is visually sorted and pulped. Coffee is placed in fermentation tanks to ferment for 12 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on raised beds to dry. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying.
About Kiambu
Kiambu is right outside Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi but is nonetheless known for agriculture – specifically coffee and tea. The county is also home of the Kenyan Coffee Research Foundation.
Kiambu County is also well known for its dairy production, and is the largest dairy producing county in Kenya. Many of the growers here adhere to organic fertilizing practices, using only cow manure instead of agrochemicals on their coffee trees.
Farmers in Kiambu face low production due to pests and disease while simultaneously having to pay high prices for inputs. In recent years, many have felt the strain and have sold their land to real-estate developers looking to build on the edge of Nairobi.
AB Grade
Kenyan coffees are classified by size. AB beans are those that are between screen size 15 and 18 meaning that beans are between 6 and 7 millimeters in size.
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.