Tasting Notes: Dark Chocolate, Sweet Pear
Hale Taste Scale: 8 - Chocolaty with lingering sweetness.
Varietals: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11
Process: Washed
Elevation: 2,000 masl
Region: Kiranga Estate
Harvest Month: December - February
The Kiranga Story:
Samuel Macharia and his family are known for their meticulous, post-harvest care and the beautiful, clean coffees they cultivate at Kiranga Estate (3.3 ha.), in the hilltops of central Kenya’s Kirinyaga county. Growers here for more than 28 years, the Macharia family refined their specialty focus through Kenyacof’s quality monitoring extension services. Kenyacof is both a marketing agent and exporter with a dry mill, dedicated to helping producers transform from growers into “agripreneurs” through quality analysis, social supports and traceability. Kenyan coffees are classified by size. AA beans are Kenya’s premium grade with a screen size of 17/18 (larger than 7.2 mm). The measure of screen size gives the industry a more consistent product, farm workers a method of checking for defects, producers a way to communicate the quality and value of beans to buyers, even the type of storage needed to preserve a bean's innate qualities and roasters vital information about heat transfer in the pursuit of more uniform roasts. To harvest this coffee, the cherry is selectively handpicked and pulped using a 2-disc pulper, followed by fermentation overnight. Parchment is then washed in clean water and transferred to raised beds to sun dry for 14 to 21 days.
