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KENYA RURIMA ESTATE AB

Body:  Full
Acidity:  High
Process: Washed
Producers:  Lucy Wanja Ndogo & Family
Altitude: 1800 above sea level

Tasting Notes:  Bright passionfruit acidity and lingering florals. White grape, apple, and milk chocolate.

Background:  The family-owned Rurima Estate is a 15-hectare coffee farm and wet mill (or factory, as they are known in Kenya), located in Embu County. The factory is shared by a family collective made up immediate siblings, siblings-in-law and first cousins, totalling about 10 members.  Each member owns and manages their own shamba (Swahili for farm), where they independently grow and harvest their coffee crops. To guarantee streamlined operations, Rurima is overseen by a management committee of five siblings, led by Lucy Wanja Ndogo and including her siblings, Pamela Muthoni, Jim Muturi, Morton Ndwiga and Patrick Njue.

The property sits between 1,720 – 1,800 meters above sea level in Embu County, in the foothills of the extinct volcano, Mt. Kenya, close to the town of Manyatta and the Kapingazi river. The area is defined by its bright red, nutrient-rich, volcanic soil and a cool climate, both of which contribute to the outstanding quality of the coffees produced in the region.

Having their own factory enables the family members to process and dry their own crop, rather than selling into the cooperative system. This allows the siblings to control every step of their production directly – from farming, to harvesting, processing, drying and sale – to ensure the full potential of the crop is achieved in terms of quality and sale price.  Day to day operations are overseen by Purity Muthoni, who has been at Rurima since 2017. Purity is supported by Godfrey Gicovi, the Processing Supervisor, who advises the family on the best farming and processing practices to follow, based on unique considerations of each season.

N.B. Single Origin Filter Roasts are lightly roasted specifically and only for specialty apparatus such as Pour Over, Chemex, AeroPress, Batch Brew, Toddy, and all other specialty brew methods.