Kenya Karindundu

Nestled in the fertile lowlands of Mt. Kenya, just a kilometre from Karatina in Nyeri, the Karindundu factory represents the heart of community-driven coffee production. With 513 active members, this cooperative supports smallholder farmers, each cultivating around 300 trees on roughly half an acre of land.

Alongside coffee, these farmers grow crops like macadamia, banana, maize, and beans, contributing to a diversified agricultural landscape. The factory utilises a traditional washed process: cherries are hand delivered by farmers, depulped, fermented overnight, washed, and dried on raised beds to ensure quality and consistency. Karindundu also invests in farmer education, offering guidance on pruning, fertiliser use, and organic practices via a demonstration plot that serves as a hands-on learning space.

We see here the Peaberry grade which we are very fond of. Kenyan coffees are graded based on the size of the bean, and we see AA, AB and Peaberry grades in speciality coffee. The Peaberry classification is given to a mutation in the cherry which causes the seeds to combine into one, rounder more dense seed. This mutation is seen in about 10% of coffee harvested from Kenya and is sorted out with clever use of sieves. We love seeing high quality Peaberries make it into the specialty coffee market as they can be sent through comodity streams after not making the normally desired AA and AB grades typically seen in specialty grade coffee. The density and small bean size allow for a incredible unique Kenyan profile which we are more than happy to share with you in this beautiful Karindundu PB!