Kenya Ngoe Farm Washed Arabica Roasted Coffee
| Location/Origin | Kenya |
| Altitude | 1800m |
| Variety |
SL28,Ruiru 11, Batian |
| Preparation | Washed |
| Harvest | October - February |
| Owner / Farm | Ngoe Farm C by Helen Gichohi - Muranga County |
| SCA Cup score and notes |
87 Red currant, citrus fruit, green team, greenish, stone fruit. 100% Arabica coffee Medium Roast. |
Quality - Sweet and quite transparent in flavours, with notes of red currant, green tea, stone fruit and citrus fruit, touch greenish in the end-matcha like. Acidity is high, citric, but very well integrated, body is medium-mild, also balancing the coffee right and giving it an elegant touch.
The coffee farm has been in existence for over 30 years but was abandoned a few years after the previous owner passed away. A part of the coffee farm was recovered about 10 years ago and it has slowly been rehabilitated to produce high-quality coffee since. The farm has its own wet mill and associated infrastructure. The farm also has year-round access to water from a borehole and a nearby river but the coffee is currently not irrigated. Plans are afoot to do so, to upgrade the infrastructure but most importantly to increase production and fulfil the great potential of the farm. Ngoe employs 3 full-time staff and relies on daily wage labour depending on farming and management needs.
Helen is a conservation biologist by training. She took over from the previous owner and because she had little experience in coffee farming she decided to have all the coffee cut back to give time for some learning and reflecting. In honour of the previous owner, who successfully introduced coffee to the region and was passionate about growing it, she decided to retain it, though she had full-time work elsewhere.
Helen had previously been involved in the coffee sector in her role as the head of the African Wildlife Foundation in the region. Under a project funded by Starbucks AWF, she supported farmers in 3 large cooperatives in Nyeri. The funding provided technical assistance to farmers to improve coffee farming practices and also supported cooperatives with improvements in management.
Although Helen was only marginally involved in the work on the ground, she did get a good impression of the challenges and opportunities in the coffee sector. In the recent past, however, she was not able to invest much in the farm. But over the last two years, this has changed. She is now investing more time and money and looks forward to an exciting time as she engages more to increase production and to better understand the sector.
The process
The coffee cherries are carefully handpicked, sorted then soaked in fermentation tanks overnight. The coffee is then dried on elevated drying beds under the sun and during the heavy rains in green-house like sheds to achieve the appropriate moisture content prior to milling and export.
Vava Coffee is a Certified B-Corp with a social enterprise business model that has a network of coffee producers in different regions of East Africa.Vava coffee exports, roasts and consults on coffee value chains, the company aims to contribute to better future prospects for coffee communities and the industry as a whole. We are geared towards sustainable livelihoods for the people and communities we work with. Our vision is to challenge the status quo and promote positive social disruption within the Coffee industry.Located in the picturesque Kajiado county inhabited by the calm yet courageous Maasai community, we work in this atypical coffee growing region to influence and transform communities by providing economic empowerment opportunities using coffee - we do this through trade, education and capacity building with a sharp focus on elevating the opportunities for women and girls in these communities.
All the bags we supply our roasted coffee in include a 1 Way valve for freshness, and Zip Lock so you can easily reseal them to keep the coffee fresh.
Our coffee bags are green - each coffee bag is recyclable, LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene) – Recyclable plastic, just place it in your plastic recycling bin.
