Karinga AB

In Kiambu County, the landscape is rich with volcanic soil, creating a prime coffee and tea producing terroir. Karinga AB is a collective lot from more than 300 small producers in the region.

In Kenya, producers will deliver to their nearest wet mill. This lot has been processed at the Gitwe Farmer’s Cooperative Society, which works with producers from the Kimaruri, Kariungu, Gachuha, and Mualwa villages.

Producers in this region benefit from the high altitude that allows for ideal temperatures and rainfall for the slow maturation of coffee cherries. Smallholders here grow their coffee on small plots of land and pick the cherries during the two harvests that occur here: May-June and November-December. 

Once cherries reach the mill, the coffee is washed with water from the Rwabura River. After the cherries are pulped, the coffee is placed in large tanks to soak in water and ferment. This allows for the breakdown of the exterior mucilage, normally lasting overnight. The coffee is then rushed through channels and cleaned one final time before being spread evenly on raised beds to dry in covered greenhouses until a targeted moisture content is reached. This usually takes between 7 and 15 days to achieve.