Kenya Rukira
The Farm
Located between the Thuti and Mumwe rivers in Othaya, Nyeri County, the Rukira washing station (as washing stations are called in Kenya) is part of the Othaya Farmers’ Cooperative Society (FCS), which has 14,000 members across 19 wet mills. Rukira has 800 registered farmers, of whom 650 are actively producing cherries. Coffee is grown at high altitude on the slopes of the Aberdare Range, with the main harvest taking place from November to February.
The washing station processes cherries from more than 670 smallholder farmers in the Nyeri highlands, a region known for its rich red volcanic soil with high phosphorus content. The slow ripening of cherries at this altitude, combined with cool temperatures, prolongs the drying times, resulting in coffees with intense sweetness and excellent aging potential. These conditions make Rukira a prime location for the production of exceptional microlots.
Process method
Farmers delivering cherries to the Rukira mill handpick them and deliver them on the same day. Upon arrival, the cherries are meticulously sorted. All sorting is overseen by the cherry manager, who ensures that only ripe, undamaged cherries are received.
Once sorted, the cherries are taken to the pulper and then graded by density. The pulped cherries are fermented for 12 to 24 hours, depending on temperature and climatic conditions, to break down the mucilage. Specialized staff supervise the fermentation, regularly checking to ensure it stops at the right time. After fermentation, the beans are washed with fresh water through grading channels before being transferred to raised drying beds.
The drying process takes between 7 and 14 days, and workers frequently turn the parchment to ensure even drying and prevent defects.
Once fully dried, the parchment is removed through hulling, and the beans are graded before export.
Origin
Although the coffee plant was introduced to Kenya from Arabia by Catholic missionaries around 1896, it was not until the early 20th century that coffee cultivation experienced a significant boom in what was then a British colony.
Today, Kenya is one of the most respected and admired coffee origins. This is due not only to a combination of reddish, fertile volcanic soil, a moderate climate, equatorial light, and native Arabica varieties (SL28 being the most well-known and widely used), but also to continuous research in coffee cultivation, an excellent organization of small producers grouped in cooperatives striving for excellence, and, above all, the fact that each small lot of green coffee is sold individually at the Nairobi auctions, allowing each lot to achieve, based on its quality, the price it deserves.
The bidding at the auctions is an extraordinary mechanism for highlighting quality, ensuring that both the producer is rewarded and the roaster seeking it can obtain it.
Within a triangle formed by Mount Kenya, Nairobi, and Machakos lies Kenya’s “Black Gold” region. Some of the world’s finest coffees grow here, representing approximately 85% or more of the country’s annual coffee harvest. The remaining coffee is grown in western Kenya, in the Rift Valley and the Taita region.
The beginnings of coffee cultivation in Kenya, in the early 20th century, were immortalized in the memory of Isak Dinesen in her celebrated book Out of Africa.
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