Kenya — Njimbi Farmers CBO Kiawamururu Wet Mill SL28 & SL34 (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Orange • 🍑 Peach • 🫐 Black Currant • 🍇 Gooseberry • 🌿 Umami

DETAILS

• Producer: Njimbi Farmers CBO
• Station: Kiawamururu Wet Mill
• Region: Mukurweini, Nyeri, Kenya
• Varietal: SL28 & SL34
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,700–1,800 MASL
• Size: 200g

INTRO

From Kiawamururu wet mill in Mukurweini — selected by Mazelab for its savoury side. Most of the cup is a fairly classic Nyeri profile, but there is a clear umami note running through it that caught their attention on the table. In the cup: orange, peach, black currant, gooseberry, and that distinctive umami.

THE PRODUCER

Kiawamururu is a wet mill in Mukurweini, in the south of Nyeri County — situated between the Mt. Kenya highlands and the Aberdare ranges, with farms working small plots of around 0.2 hectares in deep red volcanic soil. Since 2020, the station has been run by the Njimbi Farmers community-based organisation, which formed out of the older Rumukia society after it split. For such a young organisation, the care that goes into every step already shows clearly in the cup.

Members are true smallholders — each farming around a fifth of a hectare with the same deep red volcanic soil and consistent highland conditions that have made Nyeri County one of Kenya's most celebrated growing regions. SL28 and SL34, selected by Scott Laboratories in the 1930s, are the backbone of the Kiawamururu membership — SL28 delivering the intense blackcurrant, citrus, and firm structured acidity that define classic Kenyan coffee; SL34 thriving at higher altitudes and heavier rainfall alongside it, sharing much of the same rich, sweet complexity.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Kiawamururu involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Ripe cherries selectively harvested and delivered to the wet mill 🔧 Pulping — Outer skin removed before fermentation 🧪 ~24-hour fermentation — Beans fermented for approximately 24 hours to break down mucilage 💧 River water washing — Thoroughly washed with clean river water after fermentation ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Dried slowly on raised beds to optimal moisture content

The river water washing is the defining step — washing with clean river water after fermentation produces the exceptional clarity and brightness that allow every note — orange, peach, black currant, gooseberry, and the distinctive savoury umami — to emerge with definition and structure.

THE CUP

A classic Nyeri profile with an unexpected savoury edge — orange and peach brightness up front, black currant and gooseberry depth in the middle, and a clear umami note running underneath that makes this lot more interesting than most. Mazelab picked it for exactly that reason.

Flavour Notes

🍊 Orange 🍑 Peach 🫐 Black Currant 🍇 Gooseberry 🌿 Umami