Mugaya, Kenya 2017
This year we are welcoming back coffee from Mugaya, a washing station in Mutira, Kirinyaga, Kenya. We are excited to be expanding our selection of Kenyan coffees again this year!
Everyone in coffee admires coffee from Kenya. Producers on the other side of the continent wish they could produce coffee more similar to how it is in Kenya. Roasters love how even the coffee is, baristas love how consistent it extracts, and the drinker will surely remember the clarity and acidity in the cup. For many of us, a coffee from Kenya has been the first eye-opener to what coffee can taste like and still today it is nothing that resembles the coffee from Kenya. The coffee from Mugaya is vibrant and juicy, dominated by strawberries, black currant and a finish of gooseberry.
Mugaya is a coffee we have bought before and now we are bringing it back. It is a factory (term used for washing station in Kenya) that no less than 1032 farmers are delivering coffee cherries to as members of the cooperative that owns the station. The average member delivering coffee to Mugaya has a farm of about half a hectare in size. At the factory, the coffee is divided by size, where the AA selection is the biggest sized beans.
The AA is traditionally known to be the highest quality selection of beans. I find that to not always be true. The AB and the AB, can be as amazing. But it is true that the beans are different in flavour from each others depending on size. The AA is often more intense in the taste profile. In the case of Mugaya, we found the coffee very sweet and with a high and vibrant acidity.
Facts
Producer: Mugaya Factory
Location:Mutira division of the Kirinyaga district
Varietal: SL28, Ruiru 11, Batain
Picking period: October 2017 to December 2017
Drying: On metallic raised beds in 12-20 days.
Cooperative: Mutira Farmers Cooperative Society
Elevation: 1550 masl
Soil: Mainly Nitisol, red volcanic soil. Nitisols occur in highlands and on volcanic steep slopes. They are developed from volcanic rocks and have better chemical and physical properties than other tropical soils.
Processing: Fully Washed. Cherries are hand sorted to pick out unripe and overripe ones by the farmers before they go into production. A pulping machine removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density into 3 grades by the pulper. Grade 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation. Grade 3 is considered low grade. The coffee is fermented underwater for 16–24 hours before being washed three times.
Flavour Description: A vibrant, juicy cup, dominated by strawberries, black currant and a finish of gooseberry.
