Kenya Thiriku

When roasters and coffee tasters across the industry are polled about their favorite coffee origins, Kenya almost invariably lands in the top three.  There really aren’t any good comparisons — the taste profile of Kenyan coffees is truly unique in the world of coffee.   And within Kenya, the Thiriku Farmers Cooperative Society stands out.

Thiriku is a relatively small cooperative by recent Kenyan standards, with only 1000 members.  Its size makes management easier than it is in larger organizations.  While many cooperatives in the celebrated Kenyan coffee origin of Nyeri have multiple coffee washing stations, or “factories,” where they process freshly harvested cherry, Thiriku has always had just one, located in one of the highest-elevation areas anywhere in the region.

We’ve worked with this farmer group for well over a decade, with and through different partners and management teams, and one thing has remained somewhat constant despite the changes — the top coffees from Thiriku each season can stand toe-to-toe with the best in Kenya.  And at their peak, Thiriku coffees hold their own against the best in the world. 

As part of the Intelligentsia Extraordinary Coffee Workshop we convene for our Direct Trade partner network, we hold a coffee contest we call the Extraordinary Coffee Competition.  At the most recent one, in Bolivia in 2018, Thiriku took home a silver medal, sharing the podium with such perennial heavyweights as our METAD and Gesha Village from Ethiopia as well as the famed Geisha from Bolivia’s own Finca Takesi.

— Geoff Watts
Vice President of Coffee
Green Coffee Buyer for Kenya

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Buy Kenya Thiriku here.

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DIRECT TRADE PARTNER
Thiriku Farmers Cooperative Society

REGION
Nyeri

CULTIVAR
SL-28 and SL-34

ELEVATION
1909-2069 m

HARVEST
November 2020 – January 2021

LOOK FOR
Red Grape | Plum | Orange