Kenya Kirura
Specialty Coffee
ABOUT THE COFFEE
Farmers selectively handpick ripe cherries and deliver them to Kirura station. At the station, the cherry clerk oversees sorting accepting only red ripe cherries. Cherry is pulped and fermented for around 16-24 hours, no soaking is done. Coffee is then washed in clean water and then laid to dry on raised beds. Frequent raking of parchment is done to ensure even drying. Drying parchment is covered during the hottest time of the day to maintain slow even drying and at night to shelter parchment from moisture. It takes approximately 14-20 days for parchment to dry.ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Kirura is part of the greater Komothai group of washing stations together with Riakahara, Barikongo, Kagwanja, Korokoro, Githongo, Gathiruini, Thiururi, Kaibu, New Thuita, Kanake, Gatuyu and Kamuchenge sites.
Kirura is located in Kiambu County on the slopes of the Aberdare Ranges right outside Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. Being on the slopes of the Aberdare, Kiambu is well endowed with red volcanic soils, especially in the region around Komothai. The climate is warm and the rainfall in Kiambu is significant with precipitation even in the driest month. The high altitudes of around 1800 masl in combination with the temperatures and rainfall offer ideal conditions for coffee growing. In the Kiambu area there are large coffee farms and tea farms. The main varieties cultivated here are Sl 28, Sl 34, Ruiru 11, and Batian.
