Tim Wendelboe | Gachatha - Kenya

This Kenyan coffee from the Gachatha wet mill has intense fruity flavours of blackcurrants, blackberries and raisins.

This coffee is produced by several hundred farmers, most of them growing the famous Kenyan SL28 and SL34 cultivars. While some have planted newer hybrids like Ruiru 11 and Batian you can clearly taste the clean and fruity flavours in this coffee that are so common for the SL cultivars.

From Tim: I have visited the Gachatha wet mill several times and even though it looks like most wet mills do in Nyeri, it has proven to be one of the best producers of high quality coffees in the area over many years. At least in my opinion. Although the wet mill mainly takes care of the processing and drying of the coffees that are delivered by it's members / farmers, a well run wet-mill is fundamental in order to be able to produce high quality coffee year after year. Apart from processing and drying the coffees well, the co-operative provides extensive training to their farmers. There is even a small demonstration plot at the wet mill where the members receive training in good agricultural practices. The co-operative also grow seedlings of both coffee trees and shade trees that are distributed to their members.

Although most members are still growing the traditional SL28 and SL34 cultivars, we know that they have been planting the new hybrid cultivars Ruiru 11 and a lot of Batian in the recent years. Still the coffee from Gachatha has the recognisable intense fruity flavours you can expect from the traditional SL-cultivars.