BLACKBERRY | STONE FRUIT | CARAMEL

The Karundu Factory has been operating since the 1960s. It's a wet mill run by the Rugi Farmers Co-operative Society in Nyeri County, set in the foothills between the Aberdare Range and Mt. Kenya. Around 700 smallholder members deliver cherry here. The average farm is just 0.3 acres, or about 100 trees per family, grown in the red volcanic soils that central Kenya is known for.

This lot is a fully washed field blend of SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, and Batian varieties. Cherry is pulped using water pumped from the Sagana River, held overnight, then washed, soaked, and spread on raised drying tables. The parchment is turned often as it dries, then sorted and rested in conditioning bins before it goes to the mill.

In the cup, we taste blackberry and stone fruit with a caramel sweetness.

Country / Kenya
Producer / Rugi Farmers Co-operative Society
Location / Karundu Factory, Nyeri County
Process / Washed
Variety / Field Blend
Altitude / 1650 masl