This Kenyan coffee is roasted by DAK Coffee Roasters, a Dutch roastery known for its precision and love of bold and clean flavour profiles. In their latest filter from Karimikui, you can enjoy an elegant combination of dark forest fruits, currant jam and a subtle astringency . It's a cup that will please all fans of classic Kenyan washed coffees - intense, juicy and beautifully structured at the same time.
The coffee comes from the Karimikui Coffee Factory, which was established in 1966 and is located in the Kirinyaga area on the slopes of Mount Kenya. This station processes coffee from smallholder farmers in the surrounding villages of Githureia, Gituba and Kia Mugumo. Interestingly, this area has traditionally grown tea rather than coffee - making the quality of the local harvest all the more exceptional. Karimikui falls under the Rungeto Farmers' Cooperative Society, which was formed after the demise of Ngiriama FCS by the merger of three stations: Kiangoi, Karimikui and Kia. With high altitudes of up to 1800m above sea level and volcanic soil, Rungeto farmers produce coffees known for their complexity and intensity.
These coffees are processed using the traditional washed method, which is the standard in Kenya and the reason why Kenyan coffees are so prized for their purity and clarity of flavour. The coffee cherries are hand-sorted, stripped of their skins and pulp, then fermented in water tanks and washed in ceramic-lined channels. It is the installation of the tiles and the recycling of the used water that are among the newer environmental initiatives introduced by management at all Rungeto stations. Drying takes place on raised African beds and the entire process is designed to bring out the maximum natural flavour characteristics of each harvest in the cup.