Tonto Intenso Yeast Fermented Washed

The Coffee Gardens was established in 2017 with the goal of producing specialty coffee in an ethical way. At the start of the 2022 season, to expand their capacity, they dismantled their old washing station and rebuilt it at a new site.

This micro-lot was harvested in January 2023 by farmers on the mountain above The Coffee Gardens’ washing station. The farmers deliver the coffee cherries down to the processing station themselves, where it is sorted, pulped and then soaked in cold mountain water, before being submerged in tanks for a 40hr fermentation, with a special yeast called Lalcafe Intenso.

The coffee is washed and floaters are removed, before it is dried, first on raised beds in the shade for 2-3 days, then in a solar drier for 10 days, until it reaches between 15-25% moisture content, depending on the time of the season and local weather. It is then transported down the hill to the drying yard in Mbale where it is dried for another 10 days to below 11% moisture and then left to rest before being prepared for milling and shipping.