Onyx Coffee Lab
Kenya Kagumo PB

A genetic mutation separated during the dry milling phase, this rare peaberry lot from the Kagumo mill boasts a deep brown sugar sweetness with the citric acidity like grapefruit. Roasted for a round tactile and heavy sweetness, this coffee performs well on filter and espresso. Driving upcountry to Nyeri is stunning, the driver expertly weaves their way through the traffic of Nairobi. The city can seemingly extend forever, due to the massive amount of layered housing extending from the city center. Once Nairobi fades away, you comfortably cruise the highway north towards Nyeri. On a clear day, Mount Kenya is in full snow capped view to the left, while miles and miles of pineapples pass by your right. Once you reach the base of Mount Kenya national park, well-known names of cooperatives and washing stations start to pop up. Positioned right up on the Western slopes of Mt. Kenya, with the Abedere Mountain range to the east, the Kagumo factory produces coffee from the deliveries of the local producers. Part of the larger Aguthi Co-operative society, the Kagumo factory has stringent control over cherry ripeness and deliveries, lending to the high quality coffees this region is known for. KENYA AUCTIONS Kenya has a pretty advanced coffee system. Two avenues are used to sell and export most coffee: the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (central auction system) and a marketer direct-sale system. Cooperatives tend to lean towards the first and use the auction system to sell their coffees based on quality. You must be a licensed marketer to buy coffee through the competitive auction system by bidding on coffees. Auctions are held every Tuesday with samples of the coffees going out to the marketers and cuppers the week prior. This way, you can cup the outturns for the week and decide which coffees you wish to bid. An outturn refers to the week of wet milling and production of coffee. You’ll see a number next to all our Kenya lots which describe which outturn it was. We tend to like outturns between 14-21, which are in the middle to the end of harvest time and usually have the most nutrient-dense and best-tasting coffees. KENYA PROCESS In the Kenya process, first, the cherries are sorted, and under-ripe/overripe cherries are removed. Once the sorting is finished, the coffee is then depulped. This is done by squeezing the cherry through a screen and removing the fruit and skin from the bean. The coffee is then left to ferment in white ceramic tiled tanks for 24 hours. Next, the coffee is stirred for a short amount of time and left to ferment for another 24 hours. After two days of dry fermentation, the coffee is washed with fresh water, removing the sticky mucilage attached to the beans that are loosened by bacteria during the fermentation. It’s then soaked in water to ferment overnight slightly. The coffee goes through sorting and density channels, which separates the lots, and then it is taken to raised beds to dry. Once it reaches 11.5-12% moisture content, the coffee is brought to conditioning bins to rest until it goes to the dry mill. Once a coffee has been processed, dried, and then milled, it goes to a sorter that separates the beans by specific characteristics, mainly size. Coffee goes into a machine that vibrates, sending beans through different screens with different-sized holes and sorts the coffee based on size and density. This results in a more uniform coffee and cup profile. Then the coffees are auctioned based on the grade (size & density) they have. AA (screen size 17 & 18) The largest and most celebrated grade of Kenyan coffee. Usually the highest priced coffee on the auction from each outturn and factory. AA is the most common grade we buy and what we normally expect from an outstanding Kenya cup.