KENYA GURA

tasting notes:  vetiver, brown sugar, cedar, pineapple

processing: washed elevation: 1700-1750 masl  variety: SL 28 & SL 34  location: nyeri

Mt. Kenya rises from the center of Kenya’s Central Province like an axis, and the counties that extend from its national park are home to some of the most celebrated coffee regions. Nyeri is perhaps the most storied of these, its wet, high-elevation communities sitting just below the forest line in mineral-rich soil fed by cold river water. 

Gura Factory is part of Othaya Farmers Cooperative Society, one of Kenya’s larger societies with 19 factories and more than 14,000 members across southern Nyeri. Gura’s 500 active members deliver cherry to the processing center, where it undergoes 15 hours of fermentation, a fresh cold water soak for another 16, and then two to three weeks of drying on raised tables. The resulting parchment is sorted by density and dry-milled at Othaya for export. It is meticulous work, and a matter of pride. 

We’ve been buying from and visiting Gura for many years. On one particularly memorable visit, the rain misted through the trees and a group of women in brilliant dresses unloaded a truck of green coffee at Othaya. That remarkable afternoon in Nyeri stays with us, and tasting this year’s Gura brings it right back: silky vetiver, brown sugar, cedar, and pineapple.