Kenya Doondu Estate Kiambu SL34 Natural (2023)
About This Coffee
The Region
Kiambu county is located just outside of Nairobi city. The region has a long history of coffee production and is famous for its large estates, which were originally established by British colonists in the early 20th century.
After decolonisation the estates were sold to local Kenyans who have been managing them since. While estates such as this used to produce the majority of Kenyan coffee, the increased urban sprawl from Nairobi, as well as the increasing land value in the region has meant that estate coffee production has gradually diminished, while smallholder production elsewhere has increased. Nevertheless, estates such as these continue a legacy of many generations of coffee production, supported by unparalleled local knowledge and experience.
Kiambu has all the ingredients for arabica coffee to flourish: it is close to the equator, has iron rich, semi-volcanic soils, abundant sunshine and consistently high altitudes up to 2,000masl. The cool night time temperatures in these fertile highlands allows cherries to mature slowly, developing the acidity and complexity in the final cup.
The Process
This coffee utilises an extended fermentation in 'anoxic' conditions to develop acidity and cup complexity. Ripe coffee cherries are carefully selected and floated in clean water to remove any immature or poor quality cherries, which float to the top of the tank. These top cherries are then packed into vacuum sealed GrainPro bags for 3 days to ferment.
After fermentation the cherries are dried in the sun on raised African beds for up to 6 weeks. After the cherries reach their optimum moisture content of 12.5% they are rested prior to secondary processing (hulling, grading and hand-picking).
- Subregion Kiambu
- Farm Name Doondu Estate
- Producer Type Single Estate
- Processing Natural/Dry Processed
- Bag Types Grain Pro / Ecotact
- Plant Species Arabica
- Variety SL34
- Min Growing Altitude 1600m
- On Sale No
- Top Lot No
- Price Per Kg £8.95
- Status Spot
- Coffee Grade KEN CA WA AB
- CTRM Contract Number P8001984-2
- Origin Kenya
- Warehouse Vollers Group Uk