Gachatha • Washed

Description

Gachatha Coffee Factory sits along the slopes of the Aberdare range in Nyeri County. Established in 1963, the factory serves a cooperative of smallholder producers farming the deep, well-drained red volcanic soils characteristic of the area. Members have access to advances and pre-financing for needs including school fees, farm inputs, and emergencies, while agricultural support has included training in good farming practices and access to production materials. The cooperative also encourages tree planting and the preservation of indigenous vegetation around its farms. During harvest, ripe cherry is picked by hand and delivered to the factory, where it is depulped and density sorted. The resulting parchment is separated into fermentation tanks and dry fermented overnight for 12–16 hours. It is then washed with clean water, density graded again, and soaked before being slowly dried on raised beds.