The fertile soils and excellent climate in this region lead to very high coffee quality, and the factory’s 3 full time workers careful control of cherry quality and fermentation ensure this reaches the final cup. All of this increases prices, in fact the Thirikwa Cooperative broke the Kirinyaga record for the price paid to its farmers in 2017, and have been one of the most consistently high-paying cooperatives since. Most farmers here have coffee as their only main cash crop, so the cooperative is encouraging them to grow more coffee to benefit from these high prices, supporting them with seedlings and agronomic advice to maintain quality. This work passes through into the cup, with a ripe and rich character of forest berries and caramel.

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 tanks, and soaked 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 one of the reasons Kenyan coffees are so consistently of very high quality, and why they carry a price premium above many other producing countries.