she rocksSpecialty coffee from Kenya · Washed

Gatuya is one of two washing stations run by the New Murarandia Farmers Cooperative Society in Muranga county, on the western slopes of the Aberdare Mountains. The society has around 3,500 smallholder members; each farms a fifth to a third of a hectare and delivers ripe cherry to the factory, where the day's deliveries are sorted and processed together as a day lot. The soil here is deep and red, and the climate cooler than most of Kenya, with valleys and streams running through the hills. This lot is processed the Kenyan way: depulped on the day of picking, fermented in open tanks for 24–48 hours, washed in channels, then soaked under water before drying on raised beds. It is an AA microlot — selected from those day lots on the cup, and traceable to the factory rather than to a single farm — a blend of SL28, SL34, Batian and Ruiru 11 from the members' trees.

Roasted omni — dialled to taste great both ways, so brew it however suits you. As a bright, tea-like pour-over: 15 g coffee to 255 g water at 92–94 °C, ground coarse, blooming 30–45 g for 30 seconds then topping up to 255 g over 2:30–3:00 ⚙︎. In an AeroPress for something quick and forgiving: 15 g coffee, 230 g water at ~92 °C, steep 1:30 and press gently for 60 seconds ⚙︎. Or as espresso, if you have a machine: 19 g in, 48–50 g out in 26–32 seconds at 93 °C, ground fine ⚙︎. Whichever you choose, taste and change one variable at a time — grind first.