The Githiru co-op is so big and successful that they really don’t need to take our advice. The 800 or so members of this decades-old group has plenty of advantages. They sit in the heart of Nyeri, Kenya’s so-called “black gold” province. Just listing that provenance can be enough to bring extra buyers--like Champagne or Tuscany.

On top of that geographic advantage, Githiru’s soil, elevation, choice of varieties, and experience all combined to make their coffees highly sought-after. Nonetheless, the Githiru co-op’s elected leadership decided to solicit some advice from us. It involved the way they dried their coffee.

The traditional Kenyan method of drying pulped coffee cherry has worked well for generations of Kenyan producers. Githiru, however, was drying their coffee in a particularly hot and dry valley. Unfortunately, the pulped coffee dried so quickly that the parchment cracked. It became brittle, and unable to protect the bean itself as well as it might have.

As we commiserated with the Githiru crew over this, somebody mentioned the way our partners in Ethiopia dry their coffee: upon raised and covered tables. They immediately agreed to give it a go. That kind of buy-in from a big and successful co-op is pretty rare in this very traditional world.

Two years later, here’s the result: a batch of coffee luxuriously dried on their new raised beds, shaded by canvas canopies. We’re incredibly lucky to work with such open-minded innovators, and to share their coffee with you.