This is our first time featuring a coffee from the Mwirua’s Farmers’ Cooperative Society, and this lot from the Gatambi Factory. This coffee is complex and sparkling like pomegranate, and light bodied and citric, reminding us of fruits like blood oranges and grapefruits.
- Variety: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian
- Country: Kenya
- Region: Kirinyaga
- Process: Washed
- Altitude: 1700-1900 MASL
- Producer: Mwirua’s Farmers’ Cooperative Society
- Farm: Various
- Roast Level: Light
- Roasted Date: October 5, 2026
In the cup
In the cup we taste juicy pomegranate, sweet stone fruits like apricot, and citric acidity that reminds us of blood oranges. This coffee has a round body and a sparkling finish.
Funky
Experimental
About The Producer
The Mwirua Farmers’ Cooperative Society was established in 1954 and manages several affiliated coffee factories in the area. This cooperative represents thousands of smallholder farmers, supporting their farming communities through training, improved agronomic practices, and sustainability-focused initiatives. These efforts help strengthen farmer livelihoods, protect natural resources, and ensure the long-term viability of coffee production in Kirinyaga Country.
Variety
SL-28 is among the most well-known and well-regarded varieties of Africa. It has consequently spread from Kenya, where it was originally selected in the 1930s, to other parts of Africa (it is important in Arabica-growing regions of Uganda, in particular) and now to Latin America. The variety is suited for medium to high altitudes and shows resistance to drought, but is susceptible to the major diseases of coffee. SL-28 is notable for its rusticity—a quality meaning that it can be left untended for years or even decades at a time, and then return to successful production. There are SL-28 trees in many parts of Kenya that are 60-80 years old and still productive. A variety resistant to coffee leaf rust and coffee berry disease created at the Coffee Research Station (CRS; now the Coffee Research Institute, CRI) in Ruiru, Kenya. Batian was released in Kenya in 2010. Batian was created via single-tree selections from fifth filial generations from the male parent of some Ruiru 11 progenies. Batian is a composite variety, mixing three different pure line varieties.