Summer is here oh hell yeah. Fruity and clean with flavours of blackberry, lychee and strawberry. Kenya, oh how we’ve missed ye. 

VARIETAL - SL28, SL34
LOCATION - Kirinyaga, Central Kenya

POSTAGE

Currently, we roast every Monday and carry out our quality control, analysis and packaging on Tuesday. We ship everything from Tuesday-Friday and orders placed after 12 noon on Friday will be fulfilled the following week. All our coffees are shipped as whole beans unless requested otherwise in the 'notes' section at checkout. Although we send orders First Class, please bear in mind that all couriers are currently COVID impacted - even Royal Mail - so please allow 7 days for delivery.

For our EU customers - in the wake of Brexit we have been experiencing some delays with deliveries while they - basically - figure all this shit out. Please bear with us. 

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Our cans are made from tin plate steel and therefore can be reused or recycled infinitely. We encourage you to reuse this can as much as you...can. Get it? 'Can' has more than one meaning. We offer a discount in-store when you refill your can. You can also refill at selected wholesale partners where available. No wholesale partner in your area? Let us know and we'll work on changing that. The cans can also be upcycled, or if you've accumulated too many they can be recycled infinitely. 

MORE ABOUT THIS COFFEE

The Kii factory is located in Ngairiama in the Gichugu division of Kirinyaga district in Central Province. It is one of 3 factories, along with Kiangoi and Karimikui, which make up the Rungeto Farmers Coop Society. This coop was established in 1953 and now has around 3507 members. Each smallholder member has around a hectare of land for growing coffee, typically alongside vegetables for the family. The area has rich and fertile red volcanic soil at altitudes of 1700 to 1900 meters above sea level and receives between 1600 and 1900mm of rainfall annually.

Coffee is handpicked by the smallholder members and delivered to the Kii factory where it is pulped. This initially separates the dense beans from the immature ‘mbuni’s (floaters) using water floatation which means the denser beans will sink and be sent through channels to the fermentation tank. This first stage of fermentation will last for around 24 hours, after which the beans are washed and sent to the secondary fermentation tank for another 12-24 hours. Once the fermentation process is completed, the beans enter the washing channels where floaters are separated further and the dense beans are cleaned of mucilage. The washed beans will then enter soaking tanks where they can sit under clean water for as long as another 24 hours. This soaking process allows amino acids and proteins in the cellular structure of each bean to develop which results in higher levels of acidity and complex fruit flavors in the cup - it is thought that this process of soaking contributes to the flavor profiles that Kenyan coffees are so famed for. The beans are then transferred to the initial drying tables where they are laid in a thin layer to allow around 50% of the moisture to be quickly removed. This first stage of drying can last around 6 hours before the beans are gathered and laid in thicker layers for the remaining 5-10 days of the drying period. The dry parchment coffee is then delivered to a private mill and put into ‘bodegas’ to rest – these are raised cells made of chicken wire which allows the coffee to breathe fully. Coffee is traditionally sold through the country’s auction system, though recent amendments to the coffee law of Kenya have brought about the introduction of direct trading whereby farmers can by-pass the auction and sell directly to specialty roasters around the world. Our green bean partner, Falcon Speciality, uses that system to import this coffee as it brings about better return for the smallholder. 

Kenya - Kii AA

When it comes to coffee you won't get the hard sell from us. We're big believers in just letting the product speak for itself. Rather than just telling you about how we can help you, we prefer to show you.

Kenya - Kii AA

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Kenya - Kii AA

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