Gaturiri Washed

The Gaturiri factory is a member of the Barichu Cooperative society, along with three other factories, and serve around 1100 smallholder producers nearby.  Coffee grown here is predominantly SL28 & SL34.

SL28, originally selected by Scott Laboratories in the 1930s, is especially valued for its drought tolerance and complex, sweet profile with wine-like undertones. SL34, another historic selection, is admired for its rich body and balanced acidity, though it requires careful management due to its susceptibility to disease. These varieties over the years have been prized for their classic and complex Kenyan profile, though much of this rootstock has been replaced by more disease resistant varieties.

Here, coffee is handpicked delivered to the factory where it is pulped and float sorted. The coffee then enters the first stage of fermentation for around 24 hours, after which the beans are washed and sent to the secondary fermentation tank for another 12-24 hours. Once completed, the beans enter the washing channels where floaters are separated further and the 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. Finally the beans are dried in thin layers for 10 to 15 days.