KiiField Blend

In the southern foothills of Mount Kenya, with red volcanic soil, the areas surrounding Kii factory are excellent for producing really special coffee. Growers here typically cultivate approximately 250 coffee trees on half-acre plots. They then deliver ripe fruit to one of 3 factories managed by an umbrel­la farmers’ cooperative society (FCS) called the Rungeto Farmers’ Cooperative Society. Smaller in size than other FCS, Rungeto has focused on quality processing and meticulous attention to detail, earning a reputation for delightful coffee and expert processing in Kenya. Only the ripest cherries are delivered, and additional hand sorting and floating is done to remove less dense and damaged beans before the coffee is depulped, fermented and washed.

One thing you may have noticed about the variety compilation for this coffee is it's not exactly a short list.  Batian, the new kid on the block, was first cultivated in 2010-11 is tall with pretty huge beans and is a composite variety, with SL28, SL34, Rume Sudan, N39, K7, SL4 and Timar Hybrid – This one’s known to be tasty and higher yeilding. 

Ruiru11 was created out of panic around a coffee berry disease epidemic in 1968 that led to the loss of half of Kenya’s production that year. The following decade was the focus of an intensive breeding program to cultivate something disease tolerant, which led to the stocky compact Ruiru 11, which is an Fl hybrid. Since this one relies on hand pollination, it’s not easy to meet the demand for seedstock.

SL34 is a selection from Scott Laboratories originally from the late 1930’s, more precisely, from a single tree on the Loresho Estate in Kabete, Kenya. Up until a few years ago, it was widely believed in the coffee industry that this was a selection of bourbon. With genetic testing, however, it shares it’s lineage with the Typica genetic group.

One particularly neat thing about SL28 is its ability to be left alone for many years and still be ok – it can be left for years or even decades at a time, and then return to successful production. There are SL28 trees in many parts of Kenya that are 60-80 years old and still productive – This is one cultivar that is as resilient as it is delicious. If you want to learn more about this variety and many others, worldcoffeeresearch.org is a really nice resource. We’ve been part of their checkoff program to help contribute to research for specialty coffee as it relates to climate change and other factors.

The coffee is dried over a period of two weeks on raised beds, which are carefully constructed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control for optimal drying. When the coffee is milled for export, the green beans are sorted by screen size and graded according to size and shape. Larger beans (1 7 /18 screen) are labeled AA, 15/16 screen are labeled AB, and the round peaberry are labeled PB.