Origin

Nyeri County, Kenya

Coffee cultivation in Nyeri County has a storied history, beginning in the early 20th century when British settlers and missionaries introduced Arabica coffee to the fertile volcanic soils on Mount Kenya's southwestern slopes. Initially, coffee production was limited to European estates, with Africans largely prohibited from growing it. This changed in the 1950s when political pressures led to the easing of restrictions, allowing smallholders to plant coffee on their land. After Kenya's independence in 1963, Nyeri’s farmers gained greater access to coffee farming, and the cooperative movement flourished, enabling smallholders to pool resources for processing and marketing.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Nyeri’s coffees earned international acclaim for their bright acidity, blackcurrant flavours, and clarity, particularly from SL28 and SL34 varieties thriving in its high-altitude terroir. The 1990s brought liberalisation to Kenya’s coffee industry, reducing central government control and opening pathways for direct trade. Despite challenges such as market volatility, Nyeri has remained a global benchmark for specialty coffee. Cooperative societies like Mugaga, Gikanda, and Tekangu consistently produce some of the country’s most sought-after lots. Today, Nyeri's coffee landscape is defined by thousands of smallholder farmers working plots of less than two hectares, whose collective dedication continues to uphold the county’s reputation as the heart of Kenya’s finest coffees.