Kamwangi AA

A bright, juicy Kenya with blood orange acidity, honeyed sweetness, and a cherry finish.

Kamwangi Factory

Kamwangi sits in the northeastern corner of Kirinyaga County, in the Ngariama community of the Nyangeni subregion, inside the buffer zone around Mount Kenya National Park. Established in 1983, the factory takes in cherry from smallholders whose farms are mostly one to two hectares. Those farms grow SL28 and SL34, with small amounts of Batian and Ruiru 11.

Ngariama’s long chain of hills gives growers a wide spread of altitudes and terrain, but the farms are close. Most are about a 30-minute walk along unpaved trails to the factory, and the walk only gets hard when rain turns the paths to mud. Farmers hand-sort their cherry for unripes and overripes before delivery.

The White Mountain

Kirinyaga means “White Mountain” in Kikuyu, after Mount Kenya. It is an extinct volcano and, at 5,199 masl, the second-highest peak in Africa. Its glaciers feed the Sagana, Thiba, Nyamindi, Rupinzagi, Rwamuthambi and Ragati rivers. These rivers keep the county between 13 and 25°C year-round, which is unusually mild for African coffee country.

Kamwangi draws its process water from the Nyamindi. After pulping, the coffee ferments for 24 to 36 hours in shaded tanks. It is then washed and graded by density in channels, and dried for 12 to 20 days on raised beds, covered at midday and overnight. Wastewater goes to soak pits dug well away from the river, where it drains back into the soil.

Ngariama

Coffee is the economic backbone here, with banana and maize grown alongside it. Grevillea, macadamia and false banana trees shade the coffee. The farms border native forest where elephants and buffalo live. Logging and hunting are banned, and growers fence their land to keep the wildlife out. Most of the community are Kikuyu, the area’s oldest population.

The hardest problem is keeping the next generation. School fees put education out of reach for many families, and each year more young people leave for the cities. Some take their parents with them and leave the farms behind.