TASTING NOTES | PASSION FRUIT. APRICOT. BLOOD ORANGE. COTTON CANDY
Country of origin: Kenya
Farm name: Docha Estate
Location: Kiambu, Central Kenya
Producers: Danson Wanyutu Karugondo & Brothers
Altitude: 1750masl
Varieties: SL28, SL34
Processing: Fully Washed
Harvest & Shipping: May-July 2022
Farm Size: 9 hectares
SCA Quality Score: 88
Suggested brew method: Filter
Docha Estate is located so close to Nairobi that it’s quite impressive that Danson and his 3 brothers are still farming here. Many farms throughout the region have been given over to land or infrastructure developments. We are delighted to help the brothers continue to make farming a profitable and worthwhile business and to offer you this deliciously complex Kenyan coffee.
Danson Wanyutu Karugondo and his brothers - Geoffrey, Bernard and Eliud - cultivate and process this Fully washed coffee on their farm, Docha Estate. The estate sits at 1,650 to 1,850 meters above sea level in Kenya’s Kiambu County, just a stone’s throw from Nairobi – 15 kilometers to be exact!
The brothers grew up on Docha Estate and learned coffee production from their parents. Danson oversees much of the work and uses organic manure from his cows and chickens to improve the quality of their coffee.
Kiambu county has deep red volcanic soils, rich in organic matter and perfect for coffee farming. Danson makes the most of this. The farm is planted with a mix of ‘traditional’ SL34 and SL28 coffee trees, and he works the farm himself - along with a bit of help - with great diligence. The ‘SL’ varieties were cultivars originally released by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (SAL) in the 1930s and 1940s. They soon became the go-to trees for many growers in Kenya due to their deep root structure, which allows them to maximize scarce water resources and flourish even without irrigation. Along with the more recently developed Ruiru-11, these varieties are virtually ubiquitous in Kenya today.