Country: Kenya
Region: Nyeri County
Town: Karatina
Washing Station: Tegu (Tekangu FCS)
Producers: Approximately 1,200 smallholder farmers
Altitude: 1700 masl
Varieties: SL28, Ruiru 11
Process: Fully washed with dry and wet fermentation, soaked and dried on raised beds
Harvest: October to December
Best for: Pour over, Chemex, AeroPress, iced filter

Tegu means “low place” in the local dialect, and while the mill itself sits in the foothills, the coffee quality hits sky high. Tekangu Cooperative runs three mills: Tegu, Karogoto, and Ngunguru, and handles cherry from five surrounding villages, with farmers averaging less than half a hectare each. This is small-scale farming in the most literal sense, and it shows in the attention to detail.

After delivery, cherries are hand-sorted to remove underripes and overripe fruit, then depulped on disc pulpers. The coffee goes through a dry fermentation overnight, followed by a second wet fermentation, then a soak and wash cycle before drying on raised beds. Protective coverings are used at night and during peak sun to maintain ideal drying temperatures, which helps preserve the aromatics that make this coffee so distinct.

This lot is a mix of SL28 and Ruiru 11, the latter being a complex hybrid developed by Kenya’s Coffee Research Station to improve disease resistance while maintaining cup quality. Ruiru 11 plants are technically F1 hybrids, but what ends up in the field is a mixed population of seeds with some genetic variation. The result is a blend of cup clarity and resilience, rooted in both traditional and experimental Kenyan coffee practices.