Kenya Mumwe Mahiga Double Washed

COUNTRY: Kenya
REGION: Mumwe, Nyeri
FARM: Mahiga Factory
VARIETY: SL 28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian
PROCESS: Double Washed
ELEVATION: 1700-1890 M
CUPPING NOTES: Grapefruit, Black Tea, Lemon

      This is a double fermented and double washed coffee from Nyeri, Kenya, produced by cooperative members of the Mahiga Factory and Othaya Cooperative Society. Kenya is known for some of the most meticulous processing that can be found anywhere in the world. Bright white parchment, nearly perfectly sorted by density and bulk conditioned at high elevations is the norm, and a matter of pride, even for generations of Kenyan processing managers who prefer drinking Kenya’s tea to its coffee. Ample water supply in the central growing regions has historically allowed factories to wash, and wash, and soak, and wash their coffees again entirely with fresh, cold river water.
     Mahiga typically ferments twice: once under water for 12 hours, and again under fresh water for another 12-36 hours, with a washing in between. Double fermentation is very rare in Kenya, and, based on our experience, the technique is strongly correlated with excellent cleanliness and clarity in the cup.
     After fermentation is complete, the clean parchment soaks for 16 hours, again in fresh water, before it is sorted by density and brought to the tables to dry, which typically takes two weeks. After drying is complete the coffee is stored on site and eventually delivered to the Othaya dry mill for grading and a final density sort.
     The flavor profile is delicately Kenyan, but with amplified sweetness and fruit flavors that veer more tropical than savory. We tasted grapefruit, lemon and black tea in the cup.  It is a very bright clean coffee with loads of sweetness to balance out the acidity.  Kenyan coffees offer a truly unique flavor profile, imitated but never truly copied throughout the world.  If you are a fan of bright juicy coffees with no funk or crazy fermentation notes, this one is not to be missed.