Origin Story
Petit is a small coffee estate located in Kiambu County, in Kenya’s central highlands. The estate is owned by 80-year-old Peter Kugi Ndugo, who established it in 2010. Peter grew up in the area and is the son of a coffee farmer.
Besides planting high-quality varieties and using advanced farming practices,Peter decided early on to build his own wet mill – or “factory” as they are known in Kenya – on the estate. Because of this, Peter can process the coffee independently rather selling his coffee cherries to a cooperative or private mill.
This approach has allowed Peter to control every step of the coffee’s production directly – from farming, harvesting, processing, drying and sale – and gives him excellent oversight on each quality variable. Electing to manage the processing on such a small scale has required significant investment in infrastructure,equipment and staff. It is also far costlier to mill and market small volume lots than large day lots. This investment has paid off, however, as Peter is now able to prioritise quality and secure high prices for his coffee on the strength of its excellent cup profile.
Processing
After the cherries are pulped, they are then dry fermented for 36 hours, to break down the sugars and remove the mucilage (sticky fruit covering) from the outside of the beans. Whilst the coffee was fermenting, it was checked regularly and when ready it was rinsed and removed from the tanks.
Using clean water, the parchment-covered coffee was then washed in water channels sent to soaking tanks where it sat underwater for a further 24 hours. This process increases the proteins and amino acids, which in turn heightens the complexity of the acidity.
After soaking, the coffee was transferred to raised drying tables (also known as African beds) and turned constantly to ensure it is dried evenly until it reaches 11–12% humidity.
