Kianyangi AA – Kenya

Near the small town of Embu in Kenya sits the Kianyangi washing station (or ‘factory’ as it’s frequently referred to in Kenya), owned and operated by the Murue Farmers Cooperative Society. Kianyangi receives ripe coffee cherries from 950 individual farms in the area and meticulously processes them as high quality washed coffees. These are all very small farms typically growing coffee in a garden plot next to the family’s house, many of them with only 100-200 trees. With an average altitude of 1,800 MASL paired with the strict processing, Kianyangi produces some of the most complex and intensely sweet coffees in Kenya.

By removing the skin and pulp of the coffee cherry, the washed process can produce incredible clarity and balance in the final cup. At Kianyangi they take great care with their washed processing to ensure the highest quality results. First, once farmers deliver their coffees to the station, the cherries are pulped then sorted by density before being fermented in water tanks for 24 hours. After the fermentation, the coffee is removed and again sorted by density, then washed to get rid of any remaining fruit. Finally the coffee is spread out on raised beds to dry.

The ‘AA’ distinction refers to Kenya’s grading system for coffee bean sizes in order to provide more information and transparency about the coffee. Generally ‘AA’ is one of the most sought-after screen sizes as it’s grown at high altitudes with few defects.