African Coffee Beans: What are the main growing regions of Kenyan coffee and how are the beans named?

FrontStreet Coffee's Introduction to Kenyan Coffee

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Geographical Overview

Kenya is traversed east to west by the equator, while the East African Rift Valley runs north to south through the country.

To the east lies Somalia, with the Indian Ocean to the southeast. To the south is Tanzania, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the northwest, and Ethiopia to the north.

From east to west, the elevation gradually increases from low to high. The coastal area consists of plains, while the western region comprises highlands. The highland area is divided into two by the north-south running East African Rift Valley.

The eastern coastal region has an elevation of approximately 500 meters, while the western highlands form the eastern part of the East African Rift Valley, with elevations ranging from 2000-3000 meters.

The country's highest peak is Mount Kenya (Kirinyaga) at 5199 meters, which is also the origin of the country's name.

Kirinyaga is the local term from the Kikuyu language, meaning "white mountain," and is considered the dwelling place of gods.

The reason Europeans called it "Mount Kenya" is said to be their inability to properly imitate the local pronunciation of "Kirinyaga."

Main Growing Regions

Premium coffee growing regions mainly come from the following counties: Nyeri, Kirinyaga, and Murang'a.

Additionally, Embu and Laikipia are also relatively common regions.

As shown on topographical maps, all renowned growing regions are located around Mount Kenya.

Green Bean Naming

Kenyan green bean names can generally be interpreted according to the following format:

Country Name + County Name + (Cooperative Name +) Processing Factory Name + Grade + Other Information

For example, the 2015 Kenya Nyeri Gatomboya AA GP (click link for bean traceability) indicates that this green bean comes from the Gatomboya processing factory in Nyeri County, Kenya, and is AA grade, packaged in grain-specific bags. (Reference blog post: Interpretation of common green bean label terminology)

Kenyan coffee is mainly named after coffee processing factories, making it difficult to trace back to specific producing farmers.

Thanks to Kenya's famous coffee auction system, coffee quality can maintain consistently high standards.

Processing Factory Classification

Kenyan coffee growers are mostly small-scale farmers. Coffee farmers are primarily responsible for harvesting and delivering the picked coffee cherries to processing factories.

Processing factories are generally divided into two categories: wet mills and dry mills.

Wet mills are responsible for pulping and drying the fresh cherries. After drying is complete, the parchment coffee is sent to dry mills.

Dry mills are responsible for completing export-required subsequent operations such as hulling and grading.

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