Marimira PB
1000 smallholder farms
Muguru, Murang'a, Kenya
Altitude: 1400-1600 MASL
Process: Washed
Varietal: SL28, K7, Ruiru11, Batian
Tasting Notes: Pomegranate, Papaya, Lime, Jammy, Brûléed Grapefruit
Best Brewed As: Drip, French Press, Pourover, Espresso
What's a peaberry you may ask? Sometimes coffee cherries only produce one seed instead of two. This mutation results in a round, more dense seed that highlights acidity and sweetness.
This is our first official Kenyan offering in quite some time. Though we've spotlighted plenty of Kenyan coffees in our Coffee of the Month Subscription, we couldn't keep this one to just our subscribers. It's jammy, it's sweet and it's absolutely incredible.
From our friends at Red Fox:
'Marimira coffee factory started in 1966. The factory currently hosts about 1000 smallholder farmers. It’s located in Murang’a West District of Kangema Division’s Muguru region within the Marimira subregion, high on the slopes of the Aberdare Mountain Range.
The rains in Marimira area arrive in two seasons, one shorter and one longer. The main crop relies on the longer rainy season that comes between April and May while the fly crop receives its rain between October and November. The area is rich with volcanic red soils at an altitude of 1400-1600 masl. Common varieties here include SL28, K7, Ruiru11, and Batian.
After producers carefully hand-pick perfectly ripe cherry, it undergoes wet processing in which it’s pulped and fermented to remove the mucilage. After fermentation, the parchment is washed with fresh water from the Mukungai River and spread onto raised beds for drying. As beans are turned for even drying, any defects get sorted out.
The factory is located in an well=preserved ecological region with a broad variety of flora and fauna, including wild animals such as antelopes, jackals, and hares, birds like weaver, sparrow and crows, and indigenous trees like Muringa and Muiri.
The coffee factory and producers have sustainable measures like the use of pits to hold wastewater to prevent contamination, the use of coffee pulp as manure, recirculation of water during pulping, preservation of indigenous tree varieties and wild animals, reduced use of agrochemical and use of I.P.M measures to ensure the beneficial insects are not killed by agro chemicals, safe and effective use of pesticides to avoid environmental pollution e.g. water catchments areas.'