KENYA

The Kainamui washing station services 1800 smallholders, each of them owning on average 200 trees. The nutrient and element rich, red volcanic soil provides an ideal medium for the SL28 and SL34 varieties grown by these producers. Once the ripe cherries are picked, they are brought to the washing station by the farmers. They are then weighed and loaded into a de-pulping machine. After removing the majority of the flesh, the beans are subsequently fermented for 16 to 20 hours, before they are carefully washed and sorted by weight, ensuring that any poor quality beans are removed. Following this, they are moved to tanks where they sit under water for a further 24 hours. After soaking, the coffee is spread out on raised beds and allowed to dry for seven to 15 days.

The Kainamui washing station does more than simply allow local farmers to process their coffee, it also supports its members by providing them with financial assistance for school fees, farming needs.

During the production process, cherries are hand sorted for unripe and overripe by the farmers before they go into production. A 3-disc disc pulping machine removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density into 3 grades by the pulp­er. Grades 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation. Grade 3 is considered low grade. The coffee is fermented for 16-24 hours under closed shade. After fermentation, the coffees are washed and again graded by density in wash­ing channels and are then soaked under clean water from the Gatomboya stream for 16-18 hours.

Sun dried up to 21 days on African drying beds. Coffees are covered in plas­tic during midday and at night.