Konyu Washing Station

Konyu Washing Station

The Kirinyaga region nestles south of the foothills of Mt Kenya.

The climate here is ideal for Arabica coffee plants, with about 200 days of rain a year and consistently cool but not frosty temperatures.

The smallholders of the Kabare cooperative deliver their coffee harvest of the SL28 and SL34 varieties to the Konyu Washing Station, where the coffee cherries are processed.

The beans are separated from the pulp with the help of a pulper. The water needed for this comes from the river of the same name, which meanders through the washing station and supplies the station with clear and very mineral-rich water.

The beans are then dried and fermented for 12 hours before being stored once more in large water basins to be freed from the last residues of the pulp. The quality of the beans is checked on large drying tables and defective beans are sorted out. Before the beans are packed for transport (for export), they are dried in the sun for a fortnight.