Gicherori

Embu lies in central Kenya, southeast of Mount Kenya, and along with the neighbouring Nyeri and Kirinyaga, it is home to Kenya’s most complex coffees. Over 70% of the region’s coffee is produced by small-holders working on a few acres, growing only around 250 coffee shrubs each. Around 1000 smallholders submit their crop to Gicherori during the harvest season, where the cherries are immediately sorted and separated according to various rules. The cherries are pulped mechanically the day before being fermented. Fermentation is a microbial process, during which yeast and bacteria break down the slimy, sugary layers of mucilage stuck to the coffee beans. Fermentation is followed by washing the cherries, after which they are dried in the sun for 9 to 13 days.