Kenya - Mutitu

Mutitu - AB - Kirinyaga Microlot

The Cup:

Mild dried stone fruit, dried citrus, and pecan flavors with tart acidity and mellow candy-like sweetness.

Farm: Mutitu

Mutitu factory was started in 1963 and it lies on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya, in the Kirinyaga region. The mill is used by small-hold farmers in the area. This and the adjacentregions are the premier coffee areas in Kenya, and the coffees from here are consistently among the best in the worldMutitu factory is located in Kathekiini location, in Kirinyaga county. There are 1,250 members who deliver coffee cherries to the Mutitu factory who each have on averagearound 1⁄2 acre of land with roughly 200 trees for coffee growing alongside macadamia, beans and corn.In line with the rising awareness on the need to conserve the environment, the factory has dug the waste water soak pits away from the water source where the waste water is allowed tosoak in back to the soil. Additionally the society encourages its members to plant trees on their farms.From our export partner:The coffee is handpicked by the smallholder members and delivered to the factory where it is pulped. This initially separates the dense beans from the immature ‘mbuni’s (floaters) usingwater floatation which means the denser beans will sink and be sent

through channels to the fermentation tank.This first stage of fermentation will last for around 24 hours, after which the beans are washed and sent to the secondary fermentation tank for another 12-24 hours. Once the fermentationprocess is completed, the beans enter the washing channels where floaters are separated further and the dense beans are cleaned of mucilage.The washed beans will then enter soaking tanks where they can sit under clean water for as long as another 24 hours. This soaking process allows amino acids and proteins in the cellularstructure of each bean to develop which results in higher levels of acidity and complex fruit flavors in the cup - it is thought that this process of soaking contributes to the flavour profilesthat Kenyan coffees are so famed for.The beans are then transferred to the initial drying tables where they are laid in a thin layer to allow around 50% of the moisture to be quickly removed. This first stage of drying can lastaround 6 hours before the beans are gathered and laid in thicker layers for the remaining 5-10 days of the drying period. The dry parchment coffee is then delivered to a private mill and putinto ‘bodegas’ to rest – these are raised cells made of chicken wire which allows the coffee to breathe fully. Coffee is traditionally sold through the country’s auction system, though recentamendments to the coffee law of Kenya have brought about the introduction of direct trading whereby farmers can by-pass the auction and sell directly to specialty roasters around theworld.

Microlots from Kenya are traceable to either the factory level or individual farm level (when possible), and are selected basis cup score. Because the majority of coffee farmers in Kenya own between 1/8–1/4 a hectare of land, most deliver coffee in cherry form to a local factory for sorting and processing; at the factory, the deliveries are blended and processed into day lots comprising the day' s deliveries. Our green buyer for Kenya typically takes up residency in Kenya during the harvest due to the sheer number of samples to be cupped and selects the best of these lots to purchase as microlots (fewer than 100 bags).

Process: Washed Mutitu - AB - Kirinyaga

Most of Kenya's coffee is produced by smallholders delivering to factories (central processing units) who predominantly produce Washed coffees. Estates are also best-known for their Washed lots. The Washed process in Kenya may vary slightly from place to place, but it generally contains a soaking step that is unique to this growing country. First the coffee is picked ripe and depulped the same day, then it is normally fermented in open-air tanks made of concrete or cement for 24–48 hours. It's then washed thoroughly using water channels before being soaked underwater for 12–72 hours. It is then spread on raised beds to dry.

Variety: Batian, SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11 Mutitu - AB - Kirinyaga
Although this specific lot is not traceable down to a single variety, it represents a blend of Batian, SL28, SL34, and Ruiru 11.