Where are Kenyan coffee beans grown? Kenya Kangunu Processing Station Washed Coffee

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Where is Kenyan coffee grown? What are the flavor characteristics of Kangunu Processing Plant's washed coffee?

Kangunu Processing Plant is located in Embu, an important coffee-growing region on the southeastern slope of Kenya. This area enjoys an average altitude of 1,650 meters, with nearly 70% of the population being small-scale farmers, most of whom grow tea and coffee. It can be said that almost all coffee comes from local small coffee farmers. The processing plant began operations in 1966 and is situated at the foothills of Mount Kenya at an altitude of about 1,750 meters, providing post-processing of coffee cherries for coffee farmers from neighboring towns.

Africa has always been one of the world's best coffee-producing regions, known globally for its captivating acidity and aroma. Kenya, of course, is no exception. Kenya is a major coffee-producing country in East Africa and one of the extremely important and irreplaceable origins, adjacent to Ethiopia, the original home of world coffee. Coffee farmers have generally received higher education, learning precision agriculture and growing premium coffee. Kenya's coffee producers are mainly divided into two types: the first type is large estates, and the second is so-called "small farmers." However, whether large coffee estates or small farmers, the coffee beans they produce undergo refined processing and are mostly sent to the official Kenyan Coffee Board for unified grading and certification. The Coffee Board first sends samples of the collected coffee beans scheduled for auction to interested buyers for cupping, and holds competitive auction meetings every Tuesday at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Through a transparent auction mechanism and a dual system of official sales agents and independent sales agents, foreign buyers can directly deal with producers to purchase coffee without going through the official auction board. Therefore, the hard work of producers can receive more fair and equal returns, without being exploited of most of their profits by middlemen brokers. Because of this, coffee farmers are more willing to work hard to produce high-quality coffee beans in order to sell at good prices.

Kenya's coffee grading system uses AA-Plus (AA+), AA, and AB to distinguish, this grading method refers to the uniformity of coffee bean size rather than the quality of the coffee. High-quality Kenyan coffee beans are generally grown between altitudes of 4,200-6,800 feet (approximately 1,300-2,100 meters). The small batch introduction of Kenyan AA Kaguyu is refined by the "Thika Processing Plant" located in central Kenya with at least ninety-two years of history. The town of Thika is situated in the Aberdare mountain range in central Kenya, with an altitude exceeding 1,800 meters. Due to the high altitude, even during the day, temperatures do not exceed 27 degrees Celsius, with low temperatures around 15 degrees, which is quite a suitable climate pattern for coffee tree growth.

Specialty Coffee can also be called selected coffee, refined coffee; the original meaning should refer to "specially, specially selected" coffee. "Boutique" gives people the feeling of being nice to look at but not practical to use. However, possibly based on the recent trend where the words "boutique" or "premium" on anything gives people a high-end impression, the current domestic mainstream still calls Specialty Coffee "精品咖啡" (boutique coffee) rather than "精致咖啡" (refined coffee) or "精选咖啡" (selected coffee). Personally, I feel the latter two names should better match the spirit of this type of coffee, and "精品咖啡" is actually not very expensive in price. Coffee should be an affordable beverage for everyone, but the words "精品" seem to be equated with expensive boutiques like LV and Chanel.

Coffee Information

Country of Origin: Kenya

Region: Kirinyaga

Grade: AA Grade

Producer: Murue Coffee Farmers Co-operative

Processing Plant: Thika Coffee Mills

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: SL28

Altitude: 1,700-1,950 meters

Flavor Description

Tropical fruits, blackberry, blackcurrant, kumquat, citrus, cream, apricot

Kangunu Processing Plant Details

Kangunu Processing Plant is located in Embu, an important coffee-growing region on the southeastern slope of Kenya.

This area enjoys an average altitude of 1,650 meters.

Nearly 70% of the population are small-scale farmers, most of whom grow tea and coffee.

It can be said that almost all coffee comes from local small coffee farmers.

The processing plant began operations in 1966.

It is situated at the foothills of Mount Kenya at an altitude of about 1,750 meters.

It provides post-processing of coffee cherries for coffee farmers from neighboring towns.

The coffee region has an annual temperature of 12-25 degrees Celsius and annual rainfall of 1600mm.

Due to quite fertile volcanic red soil, some farmers also grow tea.

In addition to environmental advantages, Kangunu also highly values and cherishes interaction with local farmers.

Through continuous agricultural practice seminars and establishing transparent cooperation relationships based on trust,

They hope to further support their coffee partners.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over

V60 filter cup, 15g of coffee grounds, water temperature 89 degrees, Fuji grinder setting 4, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15.

30g of water for blooming, blooming time 30s. Pour water to 130g and stop, wait for the water level to drop by 1/3, then pour water again to 225g.

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473