Story
From the renowned Nyeri region, celebrated for its vibrant and dynamic coffees, one can find the Thiriku Farmers Cooperative Society, serving as both a beacon of excellence in coffee quality and a model of effective producer organization.
Coffee producers in Central Kenya have long grappled with financial hardships, exacerbated by declining productivity and the burden of exorbitant lending rates. Moreover, pervasive corruption within the supply chain has further compounded the challenges faced by smallholder producers in the area. Despite these obstacles, cooperatives like the Thiriku group, boasting a membership of over 1000, have begun to chart a path toward success.
In collaboration with the importer Trabocca, Thiriku members have achieved commendable milestones, securing better prices for their high-quality cherries, even as others in Kenya opt to abandon coffee cultivation in favor of alternative crops. With the guidance of Trabocca's agronomists, productivity is steadily improving, rendering the coffee crop more sustainable for cooperative members. With its delightful acidity and rich depth of flavor, it embodies the essence of Nyeri's finest coffees.
SWISS WATER PROCESS DECAF
There are several processes that coffee can undergo to reduce or completely take away the caffeine, and the Swiss Water Process has been a staple amongst decaffeinated coffees for years. It begins with something they call GCE, or green coffee extract. This is crucial to the decaffeination step, and is followed by a rehydration of the coffee which allows for the coffee seeds to reach optimal levels for extraction. The caffeine is then drawn out with the GCE, which is recirculated through the coffee for 8-10 hours until the seeds reach .01% caffeine content. The coffee is then dried back to optimum levels for roasting and rebagged and sent back to the roaster.