For the 2nd year in a row the coffee from Tekangu Coop Society stood out as a clear winner among the hundreds og coffees we tasted in Kenya during our visit in February 2010. We have visited Tekangu several times already, and we are planning on a visit in November in order to see their harvest. We are also trying to establish a long term business relationship with this cooperative as we find their qualities to be exceptional. Therefore we will open a fund in order to raise money to help them build more drying beds as one of their biggest issues when it comes to producing consistent quality is the lack of proper drying of the coffee due to old equipment.

About the cooperative
Tekangu is a small cooperative with 910 members that are so called “small holder farmers” posessing about 1 hectar of land each where they grow maize, banana, coffee and other crops.
The cooperative consists of 3 factories, Tegu, Ngunguru and Karagoto where the coffee is collected, depulped, washed, fermented and dried. In 2009 we bought a lot that was produced by the Tegu factory. This year we have bought a lot from the Karogoto factory.

Tekangu is a well developed cooperative that focuses on producing quality coffee and get high prices for this coffee in order to improve the quality of life of it’s members.   They provide credits for their farmers in order for them to pay for farm input and paying school fees for their children throughout the year. The members are trained on a regular basis in sustainable farming practices and also in how to handle and apply pesticides, etc.

The members are provided with documentation about how much their coffee was sold for so that they know how much money they can expect for the coffee they delivered to the cooperative. In addition the coop’s marketing agent provides us and the farmers with documents on all money transfers so that all transactions are made rightfully according to the law. This is important as Kenya is struggelign with corruption which has lead to farmes not always getting payed what is rightfully their money, and although we bought the coffee directly from the Coop, it is good to know that the money goes to the rightful owner.

Info:

Cooperative: Tekangu FCS
Processing factory: Karogoto
Lot size: 2160 kg
Producer: Several smallholders
Harvest: January 10
Origin: Kirimukuyu, Nyeri, Kenya.
Growing conditions: 1700-1800 msl. in red volcanic soil. Trees like
Gravellea, Macadamia and Eukalyptus are used to give shade for the coffee trees.
Botanical variety: SL 28 & SL 34
Process: The coffee is hand picked by the farmers and their families. After delivering the coffee to the different factories the best farmers (categorized as A-farmers) coffee is separated from the B-farmers to ensure better quality. Then the good coffee cherries are separated from the inferior ones. The cherries are depulped, the beans are fermented and washed before they get dried on african elevated drying tables.

Taste description:
Smell of black currants and blackberries. Crisp winey and berrylike acidity.
Slim and elegant mouthfeel.
Intense flavours of black currants, apples and rose hips.
Refreshing and sweet finish.

Below is a slideshow from our Trip to kenya in 2010 and one from our 2009 trip on the bottom.
Click on full screen then on “show info” to get comments on the pictures.