Kenya

Chorongi

Bright berries by the Mutheka FCS

A bright and floral cup profile is reminiscent of raspberry and black tea.

Processed at the Chorongi station, owned by the Mutheka Farmers Cooperative Society.

  • Producer
    Mutheka FCS
  • Coffee expression
    A fruity & acidic coffee
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$25.00

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Fruity & Acidic

Chorongi

Chorongi is one of seven stations owned by the Mutheka Farmer’s Cooperative Society, alongside Kiandu, Kamuyu, Kigwandi, Kihuyo, Muthuaini and the Kaiguri station we purchased from earlier in the season. The Chorongi station lies just outside the city of Nyeri, where Mutheka has their offices. Nyeri city is a major centre for coffee in the Mount Kenya region, home to several dry mills and large warehouses, where coffee is stored before being taken to port in Mombasa. Driving through Nyeri on our trip in January this year, we were stunned by the beauty of this region. On certain turns in the road, the looming silhouette of Mt. Kenya reveals itself from behind forests of lush green, contrasting with the iconic dusty red volcanic soil. These soils, alongside mostly dry and warm conditions during harvest, are some of the keys behind Kenya’s incredible coffee quality potential.

Combine this excellent raw material with the traditional Kenyan ‘double soaked’ washed process, and the result is an excellent example of the Kenya profile, with bright floral character reminiscent of raspberries and black tea.

Kenya

The Cooperative system in Kenya

Kenya operates on a system similar to its neighbour Ethiopia, where small-holder farmers are often part of cooperatives, delivering their harvested cherries to wet mills owned by the cooperative to be processed. In Kenya, these wet mills are more often referred to as factories or stations, and many cooperatives own several within a small region, keeping the distance from farm to mill down. The cooperative pays a price to each farmer for their cherries, depending on the quality and quantity they delivered to the mill, and on the price they receive from green coffee buyers for the processed product. Cooperatives employ a mill manager, a very important role, as they are ultimately responsible for the quality of the mill’s output. Their stewardship of coffee fermentation is a huge factor, but the quality of raw cherries arriving at the mill is also important to control. Careful sorting during fermentation stages can help, but often managers will reject damaged or unripe cherries before they even enter the mill. Many cooperatives also pool their resources to provide support to their members, such as visits from agronomists, and low interest loans for investment in farms.

Processed at the Chorongi station, owned by the Mutheka Farmers Cooperative Society.

Kenya’s traditional washed process is a big factor in the unique character of Kenyan coffees. The cherries are first depulped mechanically, as soon as they arrive at the factory. The cherries should arrive for depulping as soon as possible after picking, hence why cooperatives make a great effort to have factories located close to concentrations of smallholders. After depulping, the seeds are covered in a layer of sticky fruity pulp, or mucilage. The mucilage is fermented in large tanks for between 12 and 24 hours, breaking it down to a point that it can be thoroughly ‘washed’ from the seeds, using long washing channels. Then, before drying, the cherries are taken to another set of fermentation tanks, and fermented again under water, normally for a shorter time, between 10 and 12 hours. This ‘double soak’ is popular in Kenya, and is useful not only for enhancing the cleanliness and intensity of the final cup, but also as a second opportunity to sort for lower density floating seeds, as these are often of lower quality, or from unripe cherries. This attention to detail is the reason Kenyan coffees are so consistently of very high quality, and why they carry a price premium above many other producing countries.

Technical Data

  • Producer

    Mutheka FCS
  • Region

    Nyeri
  • Altitude

    1800 masl
  • Varietal

    SL28, Ruiru 11, Batian
  • Process

    Washed
  • Harvest

    December 2021

Washed Process

The washed process involves completely removing both the cherry and the mucilage from the outside of the parchment with the use of friction, fermentation and water. After being harvested, the coffee cherry is then sliced open by either a metal or a sharp plastic blade.

The two seeds (also known as beans) are pushed out of the cherry, which leaves the seed with mucilage as their outermost layer. It is essential in the washed process that all mucilage is removed from the seed which leaves only the flavour that developed in the cell structure of the seed prior to processing.


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152 2nd Ave

10003 New York

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Mon - Fri: 7:00 - 18:00

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284 Lafayette St

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Mon - Fri: 7:00 - 18:00

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Graven 20

8000 Aarhus C

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304 Phahonyothin Road, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai

10400 Bangkok

Thailand

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri: 08:00 - 17:00

Sat - Sun: 08:00 - 17:00

Al Qurum Complex

113 Muscat

Oman

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Mon - Sat: 07:00 - 21:00

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2000 Frederiksberg

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