The triumphant return of Kiriga, Kenya to the Vivid Coffee lineup.

AB tasting notes: Pink Currant, maple syrup, tart cherry

While we have purchased coffee from Kiriga Estate since 2019, it has been a few years since we have had coffee produced by Dr. Brian Gakunga. Not for lack of want or trying, we’ve just had a ridiculously difficult time coordinating logistics. As a small roaster, we are sometimes limited by exporters and importers in contracting and coordinating shipping. In this cas the, we were constrained by shipping schedules due to the late harvest cycle of Kiriga Estate - which flowers and fruits later than most farms in the area because Dr. Brian is irrigating the farm and the unique microclimate of the farms location.

While this isn’t our first time offering coffee from Kiriga - it is the first time we have purchased three different sorting from the estate: AA, AB, and PB. To be honest, they are all quite similar in quality - with lots of purple fruit characteristics - our favorite profile in Kenyan coffee and something we consistently find in the coffee from Kiriga Estate.

In our blind tastings we consistently score the AA marginally better by about .25 - the AA is a tad bit more intense than the AB/PB… While the AB offers softer/delicate notes and the PB a more prominent rounded sweetness. We’ve enjoyed tasting the three coffees side by side, so we’re offering the three together as a set. If you want a bag of just one of the sortings, you really can’t go wrong, and each coffee is available for purchase on its own as well.

Varieties: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11

REGION: KIAMBU COUNTY

ELEVATION: 1550-1650 MASL

PROCESS: WASHED

Timely and selective hand picking is carried out in Kiriga. Cherry is delivered to wet mill the same day it is picked. Cherry sorting is carried out at the wet mill prior to the pulping. Red ripe cheries are separated from underipes, overipes and foreign matter. Processing utilizes clean river water (wet processing) that is recirculated before disposal into seepage pits. Sun drying on raised tables is done before delivery of the coffee to the dry mill for secondary processing.

Kiriga Estate has their own dam which supplies them with water during the dry seasons which sometimes is visited by hippos. The estate is divided into 8 blocks where each block has approx. 10,000 coffee trees. It is located just a few kilometers from Thika town off Gatanga road. The chania river supplies water for wet Processing and also supplies the dam. Chania river is the boundary between Kiambu and Muranga counties.