Kikuyu is a blend of coffees carefully chosen for their cup profile from Central Kenya production areas in Kirinyaga. In this region coffee farmers deliver their coffee cherries to factories within the farmers’ cooperative societies for coffee processing.

Kenya has two crops; main crop and fly crop. The main crop is harvested from the month of September to December while the fly (early) crop is harvested during the month of May to July every year.

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).

COFFEE PROCESSING

In the smallholder 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 carried 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 properly dried and conditioned the cooperative society will move it to the dry mill for secondary processing where the coffee is graded.