Kenya is such a varied coffee origin it is not hard to find something you like from the diverse regions here.
I’m here before the main harvest but some early crop coffees are cuppingCupping is a method of tasting coffee by steeping grounds in separate cups for discrete amounts of ground coffee, to reveal good flavors and defects to their fullest.... very well. Bad news is that the weather hasn’t been cooperating as harvest draws near.
The focus on Nyeri county coffees has broadened among specialty coffeeSpecialty coffee was a term devised to mean higher levels of green coffee quality than average "industrial coffee" or "commercial coffee". At this point, the term is of... buyers as the politics of the area interfered with the trade. We still buy Nyeri for sure but have also entered a buying relationship with some pretty spectacular coffees from Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Muranga and elsewhere.
Rather than rehash the specifics, I’ll focus on the discoveries of quality coffee from other regions than Nyeri. The benefit here is that farmers from all over have the opportunity to get prices for their coffee that they couldn’t expect previously, and exporters who want to separate them into microlots rather than bulk them all by region.

As I said, I’m writing this from KenyaKenya is the East African powerhouse of the coffee world. Both in the cup, and the way they run their trade, everything is topnotch.: Kenya is the East... after visiting coops and small farms for several days. It’s generally too early to cup main crop coffee; I’ll return in the first months of 2019 for a cupping-focused trip. I’ll also be back in December to see the core part of the main harvest.
But this trip as the very first pickings are occurring is very informative. I can see the farmers who are prepared, who have taken good care of their farms, and others who have let things slide. It helps me to focus where to spend my time and energy for the later trips, and where I might find quality.
A bright spot is some farms we bought from last year in Kiambu. This county is known for its huge estateA "coffee estate" is used to imply a farm that has its own processing facility, a wet-mill. In Spanish this is called an Hacienda. A Finca (farm) does... farms. I wasn’t even aware of how many small farms (shambas) there are in Kiambu until our exporter partner enlightened me by making a series of farm visits a couple years ago.
Since then I have visited farms located at altitudes I didn’t think were found outside of Nyeri, and farms with old SL varieties.
Weather has been odd in Kenya as the main harvest approaches. A period of drought stressed the trees and flowering looked quite good. A degree of stress like this, if not too severe, is a good botanical trigger for flowering. And heavy flowering means good fruit set and lotsa coffee.
But then came unseasonable rains which brought on intense royaCastillo is a selection of the Colombia cultivar that has become the most commonly grown coffee in Colombia. It is preferred to the older resistant variety, Variedad Colombia... and berry disease. If farmers didn’t react quick they lost out. One oddity is also a lot of “ears” on the drying beds. These are formed by enmeshed seeds, one inside the other. They are large beans but hard to roast and it means less AA coffee. It’s not good news for farmers.

We buy coffee in varied ways from Kenya. We always seek continuity with farms and coops. We want to buy the same coffees and maintain a relationship… the issues are that farmers here tend to flip flop a bit. They may have a good agent for their coffee and a good buyer, but the grass is always greener somewhere else.
I respect that, and it generally has little to do with the end buyer, like ourselves. It has to do with the competition by the marketing agents to secure coffee.
There is intense competition to get farmers into contracts to deliver coffee to a particular mill and particular exporter. I would love to say it’s all fair competition and that it benefits the farmer. It’s more complicated than that though.
In fact, I can have the marketing system explained to me and still not fully grasp the reality on the ground. Suffice it to say that coffee is very political here, from the cooperative boards that are supposed to serve farmers, to the county offices, controlling the movement of coffee.
I mean that literally, to put coffee on a truck and take it anywhere you need a permit before it is loaded and on the road. So the control exercised by local government is extreme. When Nyeri County wanted to take control of all the coops in the region, they simply stopped issuing transit permits to move the coffee.

In election years, there can be larger disruptions to the coffee trade. It might be from politicians catering to the large number of the general voting population who farm coffee or have some other hand in the coffee pot. Or it might be from unrelated political activities that disrupt the workflow. A favorite theme is to demonize companies seen as foreign or multinational in coffee, even if some of the Kenyan-owned players are known to be the most corrupt.
The trade definitely needs strong rules to protect farmers, to protect everyone. In fact farmers in Kenya get a large percentage of the export price, when compared to other countries. And when their coffee sells at a premium as top Kenyas do, a farmer can do quite well. The issue affecting them is the high cost to farm here, and the lack of support from the coffee organizations.
An average Kenyan farmer must use costly inputs if they hope to have a good crop, and they must react quickly when weather is against them. In particular, heavy rains can damage the trees directly or bring about the onset of CLR, Coffee Leaf Rust fungusRust Fungus is a big problem in Colombia and beyond, found in many coffee producing countries. Known as La Roya in the Americas, this disease diminishes fruit production..., or other fungus like Anthracnose, die back, Ojo de Gallo, etc. Insects like CBBCoffee Berry Borer is a pest that burrows into the coffee seed, and a major problem in many coffee origins. In Latin America it is known as Broca..., Coffee Berry Borer, or stem borers can attack the fruit or tree. Scale transferred by ants saps the tree and brings molds onto the leafs too. OrganicGrown without the use of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, etc.: Organic coffee has been grown according to organic farming techniques, typically without the use of artificial fertilizers. Some farms... or other fertilizer is needed to keep trees productive here. Grafting onto old root systems is effective in Kenya but requires expertise.
This is not the place for the absentee or casual farmer. It takes constant work, and monitoring the farm and responding as things happen. Moreover, it takes expertise, and good advice. A management service will provide this for the large estates, but who helps the small farmers? Who helps the coop farmers manage their trees? It should be the Coop itself, it should be Coffee ResearchThe study of the agronomy of coffee, its chemistry, or other improvements: The study of the agronomy of coffee, its chemistry, or other improvements. There are coffee research... Foundation, the governmental agency.
But all I see is the assistance from the marketing agents via their field staff. And that is inconsistent if farmers are changing the people they work with for marketing and export. There is a void when it comes to technical assistance to the small farmer on their shamba here, and it means lower yields, less money for them, and makes coffee farming unsustainable economically.
So when I hear of people who want to “help farmers” with things like direct marketing of their roasted coffee, or a new GIS appellation map, or more certifications, or some sort of app or other tech, I really wonder who these “helpers” are and what they know about coffee. What I am talking about are obvious and direct issues that require a lot of work, a lot of staff, a lot of training, and no easy solutions like an app or a token staff of ex-pats in Nairobi.
Sadly I don’t really know who can take this on though, because the government organization tasked with coffee farmer support and assistance is basically a no-show on the job.
Joseph Karaba on his Farm His small estate is called kabumbu. He was with group called Slopes of 8 some to 32 cup. But now he is with new group of 3. Harvesting coffee in Kiambu country, Kenya More Butchery, Kenya Swank Hotel in Muranga County, Kenya Minivan and Hearse, Kenya Shhh… Drink, No Talk Hay Motorcycle! Hauling Feed… Suneral Services, Kirinyaga Kenya Allison and his dog, also named Tom. Benson karauki gachoko is owner of this Shamba. Tom the Shenzi Dog AgroVet, Angry all the time Liberica at Coffee Research Foundation farm in Ruiru Nyama Choma, Porcine Style, Nyeri Kenya Picker of coffee at Peter Gichukuru farm Tasty Pig on a Stage, Muranga Kenya Fish For Sale, Rural Kenya Samples of separated grades of coffee produced from the same outturn ( the same incoming lot) Probat sample roaster. Sucafina Kahawa Bora dry mill in Ruiru Kenya Hair Salon, Muranga Kenya Storefront Signs, Rural Kenya Storefront Signs, Rural Kenya Selling Chicks, Kenya A Butcher by a Coffee Farm in Kiambu Kenya Let’s all go down to Gichago town