Karatu

About the Coffee

Karatu Coffee Factory sits in the Ndarugu location of Gatundu Division, in Thika District, near Gatundu town. It was established in 1965 and occupies 11 acres, servicing farmers from the villages of Karatu, Gitwe, Kibiru, and Kigaa. The Gitwe Farmer Cooperative Society brings cherry from smallholders farming at 1,700 to 1,900 meters, where coffee grows alongside bananas, maize, and shade trees like grevillea and macadamia.

Farmers get paid at the factory when they deliver cherry, weighed on the spot. From there, a disk depulper strips most of the fruit before a 24-hour fermentation and a second wash, bringing total processing time to 72 hours. Parchment then dries for anywhere from 1 to 15 days, depending on weather and how much coffee is moving through at once. The factory has also built wastewater pits away from water sources so runoff soaks back into the soil, and it encourages members to plant trees on their farms.

About Detour

Detour started in 2009 in a back alleyway in Dundas, Ontario. The founders were roasting because they liked doing it, and that's stayed the reason since.

Their sourcing decisions run on three things: relationships with the people growing the coffee, traceability through the process, and quality in the cup. They roast in small batches on a Loring roaster, which uses convection heat to build a clean, sweet, balanced profile aimed at pulling out the sweetness, acidity, and texture already in the bean.