Kenya Ngugu-Ini AB

The Ngugu-Ini Factory, founded in 1958, is situated 1,600 meters above sea level along with the farms that supply it. The high altitude and extremely nutrient rich, red volcanic soil in the area provide for incredible growing conditions. 

Producers bring coffee cherry to the wet mills or collection centers. On arrival, they empty their bags onto floor stations and immediately sort out unripe, overripe, and otherwise defective cherries. After that, they use disc pulping machines to remove the skin and pulp and grade the coffee into 3 density grades. Grades 1 and 2 head separately to the next stage of the process: fermentation. Grade 3 is considered low grade and those are handled separately.

The coffees are dry-fermented in painted concrete tanks, typically for 18-24 hours. When fermentation is complete and the mucilage is dissolved, the parchment gets washed in washing channels and graded again by density. The lighter beans float off and the remaining dense parchment will normally be soaked in clean water for up to 24 hours. After that, drying time varies between 12 and 20 days depending on weather and rainfall.

It's always an exciting time when fresh coffees from Kenya arrive. There's really nothing else like them, and their dynamic fruit flavors, acidity, and herbaceousness. In this lot, we're tasting tropical citrus, tamarind soda, and vanilla cream.