KIAWAMURURU PB

KENYA

ORANGE, PEACH, BLACK CURRANT, GOOSEBERRY, UMAMI

PRODUCER : NJIMBI FARMERS CBO
VARIETAL : SL28 PB
PROCESS : WASHED
REGION : MUKURWEINI, NYERI
ALTITUDE : 1700 to 1800 MASL

We picked this one for its savoury side. Most of it is a fairly classic Nyeri profile, but there is a clear umami note running through it that caught our attention on the table. Kiawamururu is a wet mill in Mukurweini, in the south of Nyeri, with farms between the Mt. Kenya highlands and the Aberdare ranges. The members work small plots of around 0.2 hectares in red volcanic soil. Since 2020 the station has been run by the Njimbi Farmers organisation, after the old Rumukia society split.

It is processed the standard Kenyan way: pulped, fermented for about 24 hours, washed with river water, and dried on raised beds. This is a peaberry lot of SL28, the single round bean that forms instead of two, which gives a denser, more concentrated cup. The farms sit between 1700 and 1800 metres.

In the cup it is orange and peach, with black currant and gooseberry, and that savoury umami note sitting underneath.