About the Coffee
Kenya K72 Washed Process
The K72, or Kenya 72-Hour Fermentation Washed process, is an extended and highly meticulous washed-processing method. Unlike a conventional washed process with one fermentation stage, K72 uses three separate 24-hour fermentation cycles.
After the coffee cherries are carefully sorted and depulped, the beans—still coated in mucilage—are submerged in water and left to ferment for 24 hours. The fermentation water is then drained, and the coffee is thoroughly washed before being placed in fresh, clean water for another 24-hour fermentation period.
This process is repeated three times, creating a total fermentation time of approximately 72 hours. The repeated water changes encourage a clean, controlled fermentation while gradually removing the remaining mucilage. After the final cycle, the coffee is washed thoroughly and dried slowly on raised beds until it reaches the desired moisture content.
Drying generally takes between five and ten days, depending on sunlight, humidity, and airflow. The coffee is covered during rain and at night to prevent moisture reabsorption. Drying continues until the beans reach a stable moisture content of approximately 10–12%.
This extended washed process produces a remarkably clean cup with bright acidity, clarity, and a refined, layered character.
About
Kangocho
Kangocho Coffee Factory is a high-elevation washing station in Nyeri County, on the western side of Kenya’s Aberdare Range. It operates within the cooperative tradition that has shaped Kenyan coffee for generations, receiving carefully harvested cherries from smallholder farmers whose plots are scattered across the surrounding mountain landscape.
For many growers, the factory is more than a processing point. It is where the season’s work is weighed, sorted and transformed into a coffee that can travel far beyond Nyeri. The delivery of ripe cherries, the movement through pulping and grading, and the patient drying of parchment are all part of a shared system in which quality depends on many hands.
Kangocho’s character comes from its setting: high altitude, cool mountain conditions and fertile volcanic soils. These conditions help the cherries develop slowly, building the lively acidity, berry-like fruit and clear structure associated with fine Nyeri coffees. The factory’s name has appeared in international coffee trade and historical producer records, connecting this local station with drinkers and roasters around the world.
The journey of Kangocho is therefore not a single-farm story, but a collective one. It belongs to the farmers who tend small plots, the cooperative staff who keep the process moving and the community that returns to the factory each harvest. Its coffees carry the particular brightness of the Aberdare foothills—and the quiet strength of a system built together.
