KENYA THIRIKWA GAKUYUINI - ESPRESSO

ORIGIN : KENYA

REGION : KIRINYAGA

FARM / PRODUCER : THIRIKWA COOPERATIVE

ALTITUDE : 1700M

VARIETY : SL-28, SL-34, RUIRU-11

PROCESSING : WASHED

The wet mill is about 130 kilometeres from Nairobi City, which is 1.5 hours drive from Nairobi. Geographically the society is in Upper Medium (UM 2 ) zone. Red volcanic soils favour coffee farming as the major cash crop. It's on the slopes of Mount Kenya. Current membership is 1553 active members. 674 are female while 879 are male farmers. The wet mill is represented by Five elected management committee members.

Timely and selective hand picking is carried out in Gakuyuini wet mill. Cherry is delivered to wet mill the same day it is picked. Cherry sorting is carried out at the wet mill prior to the pulping. Red ripe cheries are separated from underipes, overipes and foreign matter. Processing utilizes clean river water (wet processing) that is recirculated before disposal into seepage pits. Sun drying is done before delivery of the coffee to the dry mill for secondary processing.