About the farm

The Ngerwe Coffee Factory is located in Kibugu Village, Embu County. It’s affiliated to the Kibugu Cooperative Society union alongside Kathakwa, Gicherori, Gikirima and Ndunduri.

About the process

The cherries are sorted before being pulped. The parchment is then fermented overnight, before being washed and graded into P1, P2, P3, P lights and pods. After that, they’re dried on the drying tables for 8 to 14 days.

Washed coffees showcase solely the bean. They let you taste you what’s on the inside, not the outside. Washed coffees depend almost entirely on the bean having absorbed enough natural sugars and nutrients during its growing cycle. This means the varietal, soil, weather, ripeness, fermentation, washing and drying are absolutely key.
Washed coffees reflect both the science of growing the perfect coffee bean and the fact that farmers are an integral part of crafting the taste of a coffee bean. When looking at washed coffees, it becomes apparent that the country of origin and environmental conditions play a vital role in adding to the flavour.

Kenyan coffees are most often processed using a method called «double fermentation», which is a variation of the washed processing method. Almost all producers across Kenya use this method, considered the best practice by many. In the double fermentation processing method, farmers depulp the cherries immediately after harvest and place the mucilage-coated seeds in fermentation tanks, keeping the contact with water at the minimum, for 12 to 24 hours depending on the rate of fermentation.

About the environment

Kibugu FCS is committed to sustainable farming. The project involves a wastewater community pit and the conservation of indigenous trees during development. At the same time, the productivity of SL 28 and SL34 are comparatively low. Though there is insufficient proof, some sources claim that Scott Labs crossed mutations of French Mission, Mocha and Yemen Typica to produce SL 28 and SL 34. Whatever the exact genetic composition, their original goal almost certainly was to create a plant with high quality, reasonable productivity and great drought resistance.