RAKI COFFEE

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ABOUT KENYAN COFFEE:

Kenya coffee production dates back one hundred years. Coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia , Kenya s neighbour to the north. Unfortunately, just as in other coffee growing regions of the world, the coffee trade in Kenya triggered heated and bloody battles over the prime growing lands. The Arabs, who monopolized the coffee trade for several hundred years, killed and enslaved many thousand Kenyans and put them to work in coffee production both in Kenya coffee fields and on Arabian coffee plantations.

All Kenyan coffee is of the Arabica variety, grown on rich volcanic soils in the highlands of Kenya . Approximately 250,000 Kenyans are involved in coffee production. Small holders with small plots of land produce most of the coffee. They are members of cooperative societies which process their own coffee.

There are two flowerings in each season. The blossom normally appears shortly after the beginning of the long rains in March and April. In most districts, the main crop ripens from October until the end of the year. The second and smaller flowering comes with the short rains in October or November. These are picked in the early part of the season, often starting the following June.

During the harvest, only red ripe cherries are picked, and always by hand. This entails frequent picking rounds with each tree picked every ten days or so. Next comes the processing that is important in Kenya exceptional quality.


Wet processing

Whereby the beans are washed, is mainly employed in East Africa and some parts of Central America . This process is relatively expensive, but is beneficial to the quality of the coffee. The berries are first fed through a water channel to soak them and to remove any impurities. The unripe berries sink to the bottom, leaving the ripe fruit to float to the top.

The ripe berries can then be processed further. The fruit flesh of the berries is removed with the help of a 'de-pulper ', a machine that has a roller with a roughened surface. This scours away the fruit flesh (pulp) from the berries under a stream of water. Previously, the remaining pulp was treated as waste, but nowadays it is blended with minerals and turned into fertiliser.

In the second stage of wet processing the coffee beans are fermented in large water   containers. The object of the fermentation process is not only to dissolve any remaining fruit flesh, but also to remove the sticky film surrounding the coffee beans, which is not water-soluble. This part of the procedure, which lasts approximately two days, is very important. The long period of fermentation is what first gives the coffee its rich aroma and special flavour.

 

Washing :- On completion of the fermentation process the coffee beans have to be washed. At this stage, the beans are still surrounded by their parchment husk, and for this reason the coffee is also referred to as 'parchment coffee'.

 

Drying :- The washed parchment coffee drying racks and left out in the sun. To ensure that the beans dry evenly they are turned over several times a day. Depending on the weather conditions, this process takes five or six days depending on the weather. Dried parchment coffee has an attractive golden yellow colour. The above processes are done by the farmer or cooperative societies. After this the farmer hands over the coffee to Licensed millers who will do the hulling and grading.

 

Milling: - Next the parchment is stored in bags, before being mechanically hulled by special machines. These peeling machines have grooved cast iron cylinders, inside which the husk of the coffee beans is scoured away as they rub against one another. At the end of this process the beans are generally olive green in colour.

First the coffee beans are sieved to remove any foreign objects and damaged beans. Next they are mechanically graded according to size and shape. While it may be widely known as a type of Kenya coffee, Kenya AA is actually a classification of coffee grown in Kenya . All Kenyan coffee is graded after it is hulled. Grades are assigned based on the screen size of the bean. Beans with a screen size of 17 or 18 (17/64 or 18/64 of an inch) are assigned the grade AA, generally the largest bean. While the large bean size is considered by many to be a sign of quality, it is important to note that it is only one of many factors in determining high quality coffee.  The smoothness of Kenya Coffee’s acidity and the subtle notes of its fruitiness make for an exceptional cup of coffee.

 

Kenya Coffee Growing Regions (Green)

 


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