Farm Characteristics

Producer: Othaya Farmers' Cooperative Society Ltd.
Mill: Othaya Coffee Mill
Farmers: 544
Farm size: 93.8 hectares (total)
Region: Nyeri
Processing: Fully Washed
Grade: AA Top
Screen Size: 18+
Growing Altitude: 1,300 - 1,830 masl
Varietal: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11
Soil: Volcanic soils
 

The Producers

Kiaga wetmill is part of Othaya Farmers’ Cooperative Society Limited, one of a few washing stations or “factories” that form the coop group based in the heartland of Kukuyu territory, Nyeri. The mill processes an average of
270,000kg of coffee cherries per year sourced from over 700 farmers. The total farmed area is 104.3 acres with individual trees yielding between 5 and 10kg of cherries per season, though drought during the 2016/17 crop led to much lower yields in many of the coffee producing regions of Kenya.

The Art of Production

The coffee is wet processed, where the fully ripe cherries are:
• Pulped
• Fermented for 12 - 48 hours (depending on climatic conditions)
• Washed
• Dried slowly over 2 - 3 weeks on raised African beds until the moisture content is reduced to 10-12%.
The coffee is then processed at Othaya dry mill where it is rested in parchment for 3 weeks before being hulled, cleaned and graded by bean size. Finally, the coffee is carefully handpicked before being bagged in GrainPro for export from Mombasa.

The Region

Kiaga Factory is located between the rivers of Rutene and Ruarai on the road leading to Chinga Tea Factory, East of the Aberdare Ranges. Nyeri County has cool temperatures and fertile central highlands, lying between the Eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the Eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the Western slopes of Mt. Kenya. Nyeri town (county headquarters) acts as a destination for those visiting Aberdare National Park and Mt.Kenya.

Our Connection to this Coffee

It just so happens that we have a personal connection to this coffee after we first cupped it when visitng the cooperative back in 2018. It is one of the largest fully farmer-owned, Fairtrade certified coffee cooperatives in East Africa and is famous for producing top quality Arabica coffee.