Kenya Baragwi Guama AA Washed

About Guama Factory

The Guama Factory is part of the massive Baragwi Farmer’s Cooperative Society (FCS) in Kirinyaga County. Founded in 1953, the FCS’s objective is to promote the socioeconomic interests of its nearly 17,000 farmer members. The FCS is made up of 12 wet mills, (known as factories in Kenya), including Guama.

The Guama factory was built in 1974 in the highlands of Kirinyaga at around 1800masl. Today, the factory serves ~2,000 local smallholders. Green coffee from Kenya is graded by screen size. The grades range from E (Elephant Bean), PB (peaberry), AA, AB, C, and other grades. AA size coffee beans are screen size 17/18.

About Washed Process Kenya Coffee

Producers handpick ripe cherries in the early morning and transport them to the wet mill, where the cherries are spread out for sorting. Clean water is poured into the de-pulper, which removes the outer fruit of the cherries between two rotating abrasive slabs. The de-pulped beans then sink into the fermentation tank, where they are left overnight to allow the mucilage to break down.

The next day, the wet mill manager checks the fermentation tanks and decides to proceed with processing based on the "feel" of the fermented parchment. As the washed beans spill into the washing channels, producers repeatedly push the coffee with wooden shunts to sort the beans by density. The denser, higher-quality beans are then left to sun-dry on raised beds until they reach a moisture content of 10-12%.

About Kenya Green Coffee Beans

Although Kenya and Ethiopia share a border, their coffee histories diverge significantly. French missionaries introduced coffee to Kenya in 1893, leading to the establishment of large coffee estates. Until 2006, green coffee from Kenya could only be traded through the national auction system, but new legislation has since allowed producers to sell directly to buyers, transforming the industry.

Kenya's coffee production has maintained its reputation for quality and consistency through meticulous management at the washing stations. Nationwide, over 600,000 smallholder farmers are organized into Farmer Cooperative Societies (FCS), which play a crucial role in overseeing traceability and quality control for their members.

Kenyan green coffee beans are renowned for their bold, fruit-forward flavors and complex acidity. Among the most celebrated varietals are SL-28 and SL-34, developed by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (hence, SL) in the 1930s for their drought resistance, exceptional cup quality, and high yield at elevated altitudes. Following a coffee berry disease (CBD) epidemic in 1968, the CBD-resistant Ruiru-11 varietal was introduced and quickly adopted nationwide. In 2010, the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) developed Batian, another resistant varietal prized for its tall, hardy growth and manageability by smallholders.