The coffee industry of Kenya is noted for its cooperative system of production, processing, milling, marketing, and auctioning coffee. About 70% of Kenyan coffee is produced by small scale holders. It is estimated that six-million Kenyans are employed directly or indirectly in the coffee industry. The major coffee growing regions in Kenya are the High Plateaus around Mt. Kenya, the Aberdare Range, Kisii, Nyanza, Bungoma, Nakuru and Kericho. The high plateaus of Mount Kenya, plus the acidic soil provide excellent conditions for growing coffee plants. Coffee from Kenya is of the 'mild arabica'type and is well known for its intense flavor, full body, and pleasant aroma. Since 1989, production in this East African country fell from about 130,000 thousand metric tons to 50,000 tons in 2009.
History
Despite the proximity of Ethiopia (generally assumed that the region arising from the coffee), coffee was not planted in Kenya until 1893, when the French Holy Ghost Fathers introduced coffee trees from Reunion Island. The mission farms near Nairobi, the capital of Kenya have been developed as the core around which Kenyan coffee cultivation was.
Screen Size
While it may often a kind of Kenyan coffee is known, classification of Kenya AA coffee actually grown in Kenya. All Kenyan coffee is assessed after they are ground. Scores awarded based on screen size of the bean. Beans with a screen size of 17 or 18 (17/64 18/64 of an inch) are assigned to the AA rating, usually the largest bean. Although the size of much of its beans as a sign of quality is important to note that there is only a high-grade coffee on many factors in the determination.
