Kiiriangoro is a small village located between Nairobi and Mount Kenya in Murang’a County. On the eastern slopes of the Aberdare Range, the farmers benet from wealthy volcanic soil, ideally suited to agriculture and coffee in particular. Kiiriangoro belongs to the Thangaini Farmers Cooperative Society, which comprises nine factories. Around 500 smallholders bring their harvested cherries on the day of harvest to the factory and the cherries are processed in the traditional Kenyan way: sorted on patios, pulped, fermented and sun-dried on raised beds. The fermentation occurs in traditional water tanks and typically takes place overnight in cooler temperatures.
Sun drying of the parchment coffee on raised tables is done under careful supervision, and the parchment coffee is covered up whenever there is a sign of rain or the sun’s rays are too harsh. Coffee is regularly checked for moisture and once it reaches the 10-12% target level, it will be bagged up for transport to the dry mill.