Kenya Kiambu (Medium)

About this coffee

Deep sweetness and rich savory flavors shine through in this aromatic cup. Tart structure with a crisp acidity, combined with a full and creamy mouthfeel. The finish brings on notes of tart cherry and a savory sweet tomato.

Flavors: Tart Cherry, Coriander Seed, Thyme, Sweet Tomato
Roast Level:  Medium
Grower:  Muiri Estate
Region:  Kiambu County
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1537 - 1550 masl
Variety: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, and Batian

About this coffee producer

Kiambu county sits adjacent to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, and is a coffee powerhouse. Along with an extensive community of coffee mills, exporter warehouses and quality labs, and the Coffee Research Institute, Kiambu is also home to many of Kenya’s largest and oldest coffee estates.

The Muiri Estate is a 443-acre farm with 216 acres of planted coffee, managed by a local family. The estate is named after an African tree species, the Prunus Africana—or “muiri” in the local Kikuyu language. Muiri has over 150,000 coffee trees in production and 94,000 old and new-growth trees for shade throughout the property.

Estates of this size with no mechanization for harvesting require massive amounts of labor, and Muiri has developed not only a cottage community for its staff, but has also donated enough of its own land for 1,000 families to grow beans, a common household staple in Kenya. The property uses a dam to gather fresh water for fermentation, which is then re-used for moving cherry through the pulper before placing it in seepage pits for filtration.

Muiri is organic certified. This is not to be overlooked, particularly in Kenya whose delicate cultivars, smallholder-dominant system, aging trees, and climate change leave very little room to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use, as a matter of survival for hundreds of thousands. Muiri’s formidable resources, however, are being used in the right direction. They have been certified since 2008 and continuing to raise and process beautiful coffees using wholly organic inputs and canopy management.