Description

Coffee

In these regions, Kenyan coffee farmers deliver their coffee cherries to the factories of farmers’ cooperatives for processing.

Kenya has two harvests: the main harvest and the early harvest.

The main harvest takes place from September to December, while the early harvest takes place from May to July each year. This blend comes from the main harvest.

Rainfall is fairly reliable and falls in two seasons, one from early March to May (the long rains) and a second during October and November (the short rains).

Processing

In the smallholder sector, harvesting is done by careful handpicking when the coffee cherries are perfectly ripe and delivered to the farmers’ wet mills on the same day.

The cherries are sorted to ensure that only the best cherries are used and those of lower quality are removed.

The pulping, fermentation, and washing process is closely monitored before the parchment is moved to drying tables for slow drying in the sun on the famous African beds. Here it is turned regularly and protected from the harsh midday sun.

When the coffee has been properly dried and conditioned, the cooperative society transfers it to the dry mill for secondary processing, where the coffee is graded.