September Coffee - Githembe AA, Kenya
Process: Washed
Impressions: Blackberries, Blackcurrant, Brown Sugar, Plum
Variety: SL-28, SL-34, Baitan, Ruiru
Altitude: 1800 MASL
Coop: Thiririka
Country: Kenya
Roast Level: Light
Our fourth Kenyan of the year and third of this season, we love Githembe for its dark berries and brown sugar sweetness with its juicy body and bright and light acidity. We sourced this coffee from Jeff at Apex who has been consistently impressing us with their incredible coffees, especially many of their Kenyans. This coffee reminds us of the colours purple and blue.
Githembe is a factory belonging to the Farmers Cooperative Society, Thiririka. This coffee is pulped and washed at Githembe factory and then sent to the Kiganjo factory, which is also owned by Thiririka for drying.
During harvest, smallholders in the area deliver ripe cherries to the factory for sorting and processing. An Agaarde disc pulping machine removes the skin and pulp of the cherries before they undergo a period of grading to ensure only the highest quality cherries get passed on. After a period of fermentation for 16-24 hours, the coffees are washed with clean water and soaked for another 16-18 hours to create that distinct crisp acidity unique to coffees in this region. Lastly, the coffee beans are covered and dried on raised beds under the sun for 21 days. The resulting coffee is juicy, sweet, and sparkly with flavours reminiscent of sweet citrus and caramelized sugars.