Tambaya PB, Kenya | Washed

The Tambaya wet mill, located in the Mukurwe-ini District of Nyeri County, processes washed coffee using water from the Gura River which flows from the Aberdare Ranges into the town. The Rumukia Farmer’s Co-operative Society, consisting of 212 women and 248 men, oversees 115,000 coffee trees, which are interspersed with native species to support local agroforestry.

This PB fully washed top lot is from the Tambaya wet mill, part of the Rumukia Farmers' Cooperative Society Limited. Tambaya is one of several washing stations, or "factories," that make up the co-op group in the heart of Kikuyu territory, Nyeri.

Nyeri County features cool temperatures and fertile central highlands. It lies between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mt. Kenya. Nyeri town, the county headquarters, serves as a destination for visitors to Aberdare National Park and Mt. Kenya.

The region's fertile soil, seasonal rainfall, and high altitude create an ideal climate for coffee cultivation. This environment produces coffees with high acidity, full body, and ripe fruit flavors. The cool nighttime temperatures at high altitudes cause the coffee beans to develop slowly, resulting in dense, hard beans with high acidity and complexity.

The coffee undergoes a wet processing method where fully ripe cherries are pulped, fermented for 12 to 48 hours depending on climatic conditions, washed, and then slowly dried over 2 to 3 weeks on raised African beds until the moisture content reaches 10-12%. After drying, the coffee is rested in parchment for 3 weeks before being hulled, cleaned, and graded by bean size. Finally, the coffee is carefully handpicked and bagged in GrainPro for export from Mombasa.