When you think of Kenya, you think of safaris, exotic holidays, mountains and lakes. Well, someone thinks of coffee. Coffees from Kenya usually have their typical flavor profile, especially washed ones. This one is no exception. Here you will find flavors of blueberries, oranges, black currants and even milk chocolate. Enjoy this safari too :)
Gakundu is complex, clean, balanced, fragrant and sweet. Exactly as you wish it to be. The Gakundu cooperative is located at an altitude of 1,650 m above sea level and processes cherries from 1,262 local small farmers. Farmers grow coffee trees alongside bananas and corn, among Grevillea and Macadamia trees, which provide shade and increase soil health and diversity. Through a central fund earmarked from the previous year's harvest, cooperative members can access advance financing for agricultural inputs, school fees, and other investments. Members are also given easy access to inputs, good agricultural practice seminars and sustainable agriculture education. The overall goal is to increase production and quality for members to ensure higher income.
When processed using the washed method, the cherries go through a so-called peeler, where they collide with metal discs with projections or spikes at great speed, and the skin and pulp are removed from them. After this step, we will be left with a green grain, on which the pulp (sugar) remains. In order to remove these pulp residues more easily, the grains are left to ferment in tanks for several, often tens of hours. After fermentation, the pulp is separated from the grain and will go down more easily. This is where we come to the step that makes this method just washed. The coffee is moved from the tanks to the washing channel, where the beans are washed with water and the last remaining sugars - the pulp - are removed from them.
- Altitude: 1600 - 1800 m above sea level.