Foundry Coffee Roasters - Ngunguru AA - Kenya

"This is a very versatile coffee. Unusually for Kenyan coffee, it makes fantastic, jammy espresso (with or without milk added) and those of you that appreciate intense and wild flavours are in for a real treat here. In other brew methods it's hard to go wrong. There is just so much flavour to explore. It's big, it's bold but well balanced and elegant too. This may be our best coffee so far, just stunning."

"The Ngunguru factory is one of three members of the very well respected Tekangu cooperative, near the town of Karatina in the Nyeri region. The Tekangu Farmers Co-operative Society (TFCS) is located in Karatina Division, Nyeri District, Central Province of Kenya. The Nyeri District forms part of the rich agricultural area in Central Province and it is situated on the slopes of the snow-capped Mount Kenya. The Coffee society headquarters is about one and a half hours’ drive north of Nairobi.

TFCS has about 3,161 active farmers and three wet processing factories: Tegu, Karogoto and Ngunguru. Farmers here are predominantly from the Kikuyu tribe and they are also involved in horticulture farming with a ready market in Karatina town. The fertile red soil and ample rainfall provides a great potential for high production of quality coffee. The coffee is handpicked by the smallholder members and delivered to the Ngunguru factory where it is pulped. This initially separates the dense beans from the immature ‘mbuni’s (floaters) using water 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 fermentation process 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 cellular structure of each bean to develop which results in higher levels of acidity and complex fruit flavours in the cup - it is thought that this process of soaking contributes to the flavour profiles that 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 last around 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 put into ‘bodegas’ to rest – these are raised cells made of chicken wire which allows the coffee to breathe fully."

Great for: Aeropress, Aeropress, Espresso, Filter, With milk
Origin: Africa/Kenya - Ngunguru factory, Nyeri, Central Province
Process Method: Washed - and sun-dried on African beds
Varietals: SL28 and SL34