GENERAL OVERVIEW

The Central Province (Swahili: Kati) is a region in central Kenya. It covers an area of 13,191 km2 and is located to north of Nairobi and west of Mt. Kenya It lies on the A2 road 42 kilometres (26 mi) north east of Nairobi capital city.

The climate of Central Province is generally cooler than that of the rest of Kenya, due to the region’s higher altitude. Rainfall is fairly reliable, falling in two seasons, one from early March to May (the long rains) and a second during October and November (the short rains). Kiambu County is a key producer of coffee, one of Kenya’s key exports.

ABOUT AA CHANIA

AA Chania is a blend of coffees carefully chosen for their cup profile from one or several of the producing areas in Kiambu region. Farmers deliver their coffee within the societies for processing.

Kenya has two crops; main crop and early crop. The main crop (late) is harvested from the month of November to December whie the fly (earty) crop is harvested during the month of May to June every year. Kiambu, being very close to Nairobi, has a long history with regards to coffee production. It is home to many of Kenya’s largest and oldest coffee estates.

COFFEE PROCESSING

In the smalholder sector, harvesting is carried out by careful hand selection when the coffee cherries are perfectly ripe and is delivered to the farmers’ wet mills the very same day.

Cherry sorting is carted out to ensure only the very best cherries are used and inferior quality cherries removed.

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

When the coffee has been property dried and conditioned the cooperative society will move it to the dry mill for secondary processing where the coffee is graded to extract the AA beans.