Subregion Kiambu County
Farm Name Tingang'a Estate (Single Estate)
Processing Fermented / Washed
Soil Red, volcanic, sandy
This fully washed, Rainforest Alliance certified coffee comes from Tinganga Estate in Kenya's Kiambu county. Tinganga is a 182ha coffee farm first established by British colonists but is now one of 6 estates owned and operated by Sasini, a publicly listed company with a majority Kenyan ownership.
Sasini’s estates have long placed an emphasis on equity and community. In the case of the estates’ workers this involves the provision of living quarters, early child education, union membership and guaranteed payment above minimum wage. In collaboration with Olam Specialty and over 30 of our customers, they have also been able to invest further in the local primary school Njenga Karume. This has principally been through the building of a new computer lab to equip students with the IT skillset to maximise their opportunities in an increasingly digital world.
Tinganga Estate’s fully washed process is typical of the majority of Kenyan specialty coffee. Selected cherries are pre-graded and then de-pulped. The pulped coffee is then fermented for 12 - 48 hours in water tanks to breakdown the remaining mucilage on the bean. After fermentation the coffee, still in its husk (parchment) is washed in clean water grading channels. This series of declining channels allows the heaviest, densest beans to sink. These are processed separately as they represent the highest quality beans. After washing the parchment is dried in the sun on raised African beds for 2-3 weeks where it is periodically turned and covered to protect against moisture or the heat of the midday sun.
Why the 'Eastern Black Rhino'?
The eastern black rhino (Diceros bicornis michaeli) is a critically endangered subspecies of the black rhinoceros, primarily found in Kenya and Tanzania. Their population has been severely impacted by poaching for their horns.
While numbers decreased by 96% between 1970 and 1993, conservation efforts have helped the total black rhino population increase to over 6,000, with an estimated 1,471 eastern black rhinos as of recent estimates.
Intense anti-poaching efforts, strategic translocations to secure areas, and international breeding programs in zoos (known as the European Endangered Species Programme or EEP) have been crucial in their slow recovery. Conservation organizations like the International Rhino Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are actively working to protect this subspecies.
