Kenya AB

Cooperative | Nyeri Gatugi 

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Notes from the Importer 

"Gatugi is one of several coffees we picked up from Othaya Farmer's Cooperative Society (FCS), an FCS that includes an impressive amount of wet mills, 18 in all, dating back to the late 1950s. Gatugi Factory sits at just under 1900 meters above sea level, right along the Ichamama River, which is fed from the Karima forest above. "Factories" are essentially small washing stations aligned with a particular "society" in Kenya, what we would call a "cooperative". We return to the societies who seem to regularly produce some of the best Kenya coffees, and each year we come across societies that are new to us as well. Being one of the older Kenya FCS, we are well aware of the quality coming out of Othaya, and have had the good fortune to buy a few stellar lots the past few years. It was purchased direct, not through the Kenya auction system, so we could avoid the risk of losing it. To do this we pay a price that is higher than what the top auction bid might be, but it means we get the exact lot we want. This is AB outturn, which speaks to the size of the coffee beans. AA's are the largest, and command the highest price while AB are the next size category smaller (about the same size as the typical Guatemalan coffee on our list). They tend to cost less too, even though the cup quality isn't always lower than their AA counterpart."

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