Kamwangi AA, Kenya - Drop Coffee Roasters

Melted butter

Update: Discount due to roasting date: November, last year. A good opportunity to try this beauty at a great price. - 30%

ORIGIN : Kenya - Kamwangi
ROASTING: Omni Roast
PRODUCER : Kamwangi Washing Station
ALTITUDE : 1600-1800 meters
VARIETY : SL-34, SL-28 and Ruiru 11
PROCESS : Fully Washed
FLAVOR NOTES : Strawberries and limes. Blackcurrant aftertaste.

The coffee has an aroma of melted butter. A lively cup profile with flavors of strawberries and lime with a cool blackcurrant aftertaste. The body is light and reminiscent of lemonade.

This coffee will be familiar to those of you who have been drinking Drop for years and is our favorite coffee from Kenya. Kamwangi is one of two factories run by the New Ngariama Cooperative in Kirinyaga in central Kenya. The region's growing conditions and the many hours spent carefully sorting the coffee are the main reason why Kamwangi has great quality and a tangy flavor profile. The AA selection is the largest bean size of the crop and gives the coffee a more pronounced and intense aroma.

Before the cherries go into production, the farmers sort them by hand to remove unripe and overripe cherries. A pulping machine removes the peel and pulp. The pulping machine divides the coffees into 3 types according to their density. The coffee is fermented in the shade for 24-36 hours. After fermentation, the coffees are washed and sorted again by density in washing channels before being soaked in clean water overnight.

The Kamwangi Factory
We love Kamwangi so much and have been loyal buyers for eight years. This year we chose the AA and AB versions, with the AA version meaning the largest selection of beans.

In Kenya, the processing stations, or wet mills, are called factories. The Kamwangi factory is one of two factories of the New Ngariama Cooperative Society, located in the Kirinyaga region in the hills around Mount Kenya; a third factory will soon be put into operation. This area is less well known than neighboring Nyeri, but has surprised us from the start with some outstanding and memorable coffees.

The New Ngariama Cooperative Society consists mainly of small farms, each with about 100 trees. In Gichugu Division of Kirinyaga District, where Kamwangi's surrounding farms are located, harvest began in early November. The farmers are organized into cooperatives that act as umbrella organizations for Kamwangi and its other cooperatives. After the harvest, the small farmers deliver their coffee cherries fresh every day for processing over a period of around two months, usually transporting around 25-50 kilos a few kilometers on foot or by bicycle. Upon arrival at the factory, each grower sorts their cherries by hand to weed out defective and inferior varieties, as they are paid more depending on the quality.

sustainability
In recent years, Kenyan coffee production has struggled greatly with coffee berry disease (CBD) and difficult weather conditions due to climate change. This has led to more and more people growing the Batian variety, which is more resilient than, for example, B. SL28 and SL34. However, the Batian plant is not always as acidic and intense as the Kenyan coffee we have been known for over the last decade. The soil and weather are changing due to climate changes

During a visit to the Kamwangi factory, manager Edwin Gichori talks about the work being done at the factory to improve quality and where changes can be made in the long term.

Kamwangi gives farmers a small advance upon delivery. Some well-run wet mills are able to return more than 85% of the sales price to farmers; Kamwangi is generally able to return 80% after deducting milling and marketing costs.

Kamwangi was registered in 1997, is certified by the Rainforest Alliance and has a good structure to monitor payments to producers. They have also set up septic tanks for wastewater treatment and have good quality control systems for processing.