Kenya Kirinyaga Karimikui

A member of the Rung’eto Farmers Cooperative Society, this lot comes from a factory we have been sourcing from for many years. The Karimikui Coffee Factory was established in 1966. It sits on six acres of land, serving the villages of Githureia, Gituba, and Kia Mugumo. It is situated in an area where most smallholder farmers grow tea, not coffee. We have been procuring coffee from the Rungeto FCS since 2016. Rungeto was formed after the dissolution of the Ngiriama FCS, leading Kiangoi, Karimikui, and Kii factories to join forces. Situated on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the farmers associated with the Rungeto Cooperative are renowned for cultivating intense, complex, and flavour-dense coffees. The farms that contribute to these coffees sit at 1600 – 1800 masl. The Chairman of this factory has introduced several initiatives across all Rungeto FCS factories. One notable measure is the installation of tiles on all washing channels and fermentation tanks. Additionally, there is a practice of recycling water used in the processing.

The region’s rich, red, volcanic soil is ideal for coffee growing, with year-round temperatures between 13 °C and 24 °C. The area experiences two rainy periods: the long rains from March to May and the short rains from October to December. The main harvest occurs between November and December, with a fly crop running through July–August, meaning we also see small volumes of high-quality Kenyan coffee later in the year. Surrounding farmers mainly grow SL28 and SL34, accounting for 99% of total production. Occasionally, small quantities of Ruiru 11 plants are also grown. The cherries are sorted before being pulped, and the parchment is then fermented overnight. Following this, it is washed and graded into P1, P2, P3, P lights, and pods. It is then dried on the drying tables for 8-14 days.