Kenya Nyeri Gaikundo AA

Gaikundo is a coffee washing station - or "factory" as they're known in Kenya - that is part of the Rumukia Farmer's Cooperative Society. It's near Kagumo town, Nyeri's southern region, with farm altitudes averages around 1600 meters above sea level altitude, but many top 2000. The area is abundant in red volcanic loam soils (common for the area around Mount Kenya), and coffee is usually just one of several other cash crops planted, including tea, corn, and bananas. Gaikundo is part of the Rumukia Farmers Cooperative Society along with 7 other wet mills, including Kiawamururu, Thunguri, and Gatura. As with other good coops in Nyeri, Gaikundo insists farmers separate their coffee cherry by ripeness upon delivery, removing under-ripe and damaged cherry that can have a negative impact in the cup. Small things like this make a huge difference in the resulting coffee. Like most Kenyan wet mills, the coffee at Gaikundo is double washed, meaning that after the outer cherry is removed the fruit-covered seeds are fermented in tanks of water to break down the sticky fruit, then moved to a separate tank of clean water where the remaining fruit is washed away.