Day 9 | Kenya Ichamama Othaya

This anaerobic natural coffee comes to us from the Othaya Cooperative Society in the Central Highlands of Kenya. It was grown in the wet, mineral-rich foothills of Mt. Kenya by numerous smallholder farmers and processed at the Ichamama Factory in Nyeri. Surrounded by majestic snow capped mountains, Nyeri is known as the green heart of Kenya and is at the center of one of the most fertile regions in the world.

Mt. Kenya, a stratovolcano, is the second tallest peak on the continent of Africa and the central counties of Kenya radiate out from the peak of the mountain. The local Kikuyu people believe that the mountain is sacred and they still build their homes with the doors facing the mountain.

In Kenya, coffee production is dominated by a cooperative system where members vote on representation, marketing, milling contracts, and profit allocation. Othaya Farmers Cooperative Society, the umbrella organization that includes Ichamama, is one of Kenya’s larger societies, with 19 different factories and more than 14,000 farmer members across the southern Nyeri region.

The farmers that contribute cherries to the Ichamama factory tend to own very small farms- less than half a hectare. Coffee is their main cash crop, but they also grow legumes, vegetables, and even tea.Ripe coffee cherries are handpicked and delivered weekly to the factory. Natural coffees are still a bit of a rarity in Kenya. Most of the coffee processed at Ichamama is washed.

For this natural lot, cherries were hand- sorted, weighed for quality, and moved directly to raised beds. They were wrapped in polyethylene plastic and allowed to ferment anaerobically for 48 hours. After, the cherries were moved to raised beds to dry in the sun for around 29 days or until the internal moisture is 10-12%. They were rotated constantly to ensure even airflow throughout the drying process.