Kii | Kenya

TLDR: Maybe our only release from Kenya this year! We decided to focus heavily on support communities where we could have a bigger impact. The call of great coffee from Kenya is always in our ear, and this was one we just couldn’t pass up.

 

The Kii factory is operated by Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society (F.C.S.), and serves about 1,215 active farmer members. Farmers in this region began planting coffee in 1953, and the average farmer has about 400 coffee trees on an area of about 1/3rd of a hectare. 

 

The cooperative society operates three mills—Kii, Karimikui, and Kiangoi—and is managed by an elected board of seven members, two from each factory catchment. The co-op has 25 permanent staff members, overseen by a secretary manager. The co-op is partnered with the marketing agent Sustainable Management Services Limited and is implementing a coffee-quality improvement project together with the intention of raising both cup and yield.

 

 

Members deliver cherry to the factory as soon as it is picked, and it's depulped after sorting and separating. The coffee is then fermented (typically overnight) before being washed with fresh river water, and then dried in full sun.

 

We’ve roasted this coffee as we would almost every other Kenyan coffee that we offer. We’ve gone all in early in the roast, and kept it short, bright, and sweet. Perfect for something cold as the weather warms up.

We prefer our filter brews from a v60, but we won’t judge for use of anything at all to make yourself a coffee - even a (clean) sock.

 

Our recommended ratio when brewing filter coffee is 60g of coffee per litre of water. Simply scale this down, or up, for your desired size of brew.

 

With all methods, you’ll want: a grind size similar to granulated sugar, boiling water, and about 3 minutes of brewing time. This goes for v60, aeropress, plunger, and the (still hopefully clean) sock.

 

Our favourite recipe for v60:

• 20g of medium to coarsely ground coffee, it’ll feel a little like granulated sugar.
• Set your kettle to boil, and ready your socks to be rocked.
• We use a 60g bloom, with a swirl of the slurry to make sure it’s all wet. You can stir of that’s easier, just don’t rip the paper!
• After that, when your timer is at 45 seconds, add more water to a total of 200g, and swirl gently.
• Then finally at 1:15 on your timer, add the rest of your water, to 330g, and do one last little swirl.
• Wait till it drains through, roughly 3:30 is a good time, pour into your favourite mug, and let those socks be rocked.

 

If you’d like more info or tips, get in touch! hello@coreroasters.cc