In early 2014, our green coffee buyer became the first representative from any coffee roaster to visit Kenya’s Gikirima washing station. The distinction, it turns out, was hard fought: Nestled in the remote Kithuthuru area of Embu County in central Kenya, Gikirima is an hour’s bumpy ride from the nearest paved road. To boot, it’s at an altitude of 1,650 meters – a breath-snatching height that’s ideal for coffee cultivation, albeit less than splendid for rusty Jeeps. Gikirima’s producers, a fastidious bunch, apply a careful hand to their fermenting, drying, conditioning, and storing operations. The result of their labor is a luxurious: a gooey cinnamon bun of a coffee, finished with the gentlest etching of citrus. While a Chemex yields the sticky sweetness of a melted Werther’s caramel, an AeroPress burbles with cocoa and brown sugar. A coffee enjoyed regardless of locale or geography, the Gikirima is perfect with peach pie under a thatched roof in a Georgia monsoon. As it turns out, it’s also quite enjoyable in the backseat of a cab that’s racing through (or wedged in) Los Angeles traffic.
