Mugaya Coffee Factory is near to the town of Kagumo in the Kirinyaga District of Kenya’s Central Province.

It was established in 1975 and is currently affiliated with the Mutira Farmers Coop Society.

The region’s main crop season runs from October to December, followed by a smaller season from March to May. The coffee you’re brewing was harvested in November-December 2014.

Grevillea, Macadamia, avocado trees and Moringa are used as shade trees for the coffee. Maize, beans, potatoes and yams are also produced in the area.

Making the grade

A little while ago with Pitalito AAA we talked about grading for coffee in Colombia, where A, AA, and AAA represent quality grades.

But not so fast: for Kenyan coffee, the AA means something different.

In the African and Indian coffee trade, AA and AB refer to the size of the bean. AA coffee beans, such as the ones in this delivery, are over 7.2mm in size and generally fetch the highest price at auction in Kenya. Beans graded AB are slightly smaller, at least 6.8mm in size and will get the second highest price.

Beans are sorted using numbered screens with holes of a uniform size, so farmers, exporters and roasters can all use the same terminology to describe things. AA is screen 17 and 18; whereas AB beans are screen 15 and 16. Tom at Sweet Maria’s in Oakland has a blog post about screen tests with photos of how a simple screen setup works.