Kenya Kamwangi PB

Story

Kamwangi is a washing station—or factory, as they are called in Kenya—that is owned by the New Ngariama Farmer’s Cooperative Society, in the Kirinyaga district. It sits on the slopes of Mt. Kenya in the agriculturally rich Central Province at 1,610 meters above sea level. The washing station has five permanent staff but employs up to 50 people during the harvest. Around 500 members deliver coffee to Kamwangi. They have on average of 3–5 hectares of coffee (around 1,500–2,000 trees) planted at 1,550–1,650 meters above sea level. The main varieties of coffee grown in this region are SL-28 and -34, which account for 95% of all coffee produced. The region’s high altitude means that the coffee fruit is able to mature slowly, and this, combined with rich volcanic soil and careful processing, helps to highlight the inherent complex fruit flavors from the SL-28 and SL-34 varieties. In addition to the SL-28 and SL-34, this lot contains around 5% of the Ruiru 11 variety. This variety is slowly becoming more widespread in the region due to its resistance to Coffee Berry Disease and Coffee Leaf Rust and has been backcrossed with SL-28 and SL-34 to ensure high cup quality.