SNAZZY - G | Kenya, Espresso

Country : Kenya

Region : Kirinyaga

Kiangai & Karimikui washing stations

SNAZZY-G from Kenya! What does snazzy mean? Extremely attractive or flashy like our new espresso

Taste notes - Millionaire's shortbread, lingonberry, grapefruit

Varieties

Although Kenya borders Ethiopia (named as a birthplace of coffee), the story tells that coffee growing in Kenya started with French missionaries in the late 1800s. Variety imported by them was Bourbon which was gathered from the island with the same name Bourbon Island (now known as La Réunion island) and then spread all across the country.

Today Kenya's landscape is dominated by five main varieties. This lot is a blend of 3 of them: SL28, SL34, Batian.

Washing station & processing

Both washing stations are located on the western periphery of Kirinyaga county at the Southern slopes of the Mt Kenya highlands with rich and fertile red volcanic soils. It is one of seven washing stations of the Kibirigwi cooperative society. There Are around 1000 smallholders in this cooperative, with farms sized 0.1 hectares. Besides the coffee, they also cultivate food crops such as maize and beans for their subsistence.

Farmers handpick the ripe cherries and deliver them to the washing station on the same day for processing. Hand Sorting (removal of unripe, diseased and overripe berries) takes place beforehand to ensure only the ripest berries are brought in for processing.

Then they are de-pulped using fresh water from the nearby Kibirigwi river. Afterwards, beans are dry fermented and washed following, while grading mechanically, whereas parchment 1 (P1) and P2 and floaters are derived. The parchment is dried on the raised drying beds for 10–14 days and then moved to bags for further consumption.