Skip to content

Tegu

A washing station in Nyeri county with a long reputation for dense, blackcurrant-heavy lots.

Tegu is a factory — Kenyan for washing station — in Nyeri county, serving smallholders on the slopes below Mount Kenya.

The profile

Classic Nyeri intensity: blackcurrant, plum, grapefruit, a savoury tomato edge, and the mouth-watering acidity that defines Kenyan coffee. Heavy syrupy body underneath.

Why factory names matter

Kenyan coffee is traded by factory through the Nairobi auction, and lots carry the factory name. Since each factory serves hundreds of smallholders and processes to its own standard, the name is a genuine quality signal.

Experienced buyers navigate Kenyan coffee by factory rather than by county.

The double fermentation

Kenyan washing uses a distinctive process: ferment, wash, soak in clean water for a further period, then dry. That intermediate soak is widely credited with the clarity Kenyan coffee shows, and it is unusual outside East Africa.

The varieties

SL28 and SL34 predominantly, with Ruiru 11 increasingly present as farms replant against disease.

Brewing it

Filter, light roast, a clean brewer. Grind fine and brew hot — Kenyan beans are dense and under-extraction turns the acidity sour rather than bright.

What you need to make it

The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.

  • The reference pour-over Manual brewers

    Hario V60 02 Ceramic

    60° cone · spiral ribs · 1–4 cups

    The most transparent cup you can brew for twenty euros, and the least forgiving. Ceramic holds heat where plastic does not — and the open bottom means your pour, not the dripper, decides the coffee.

    Best for: Someone who wants to taste what a single-origin coffee is actually doing.

    8.2/10

    ≈ $25 / £20 / 22 €

  • Best filter grinder Grinders

    Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2

    64 mm flat burr · filter only · single dose

    64 mm flat burrs, near-zero retention and a footprint the size of a mug, built for filter and honest about not doing espresso. For pour-over it is the clearest grind you can buy at this price.

    Best for: V60, Chemex, AeroPress and batch brewing, where clarity is the whole point.

    8.7/10

    ≈ $345 / £275 / 300 €

  • Best pour control Kettles

    Fellow Stagg EKG Pro

    0.9 L · ±1 °C hold · counterbalanced gooseneck

    The best-pouring kettle sold, and the hold function matters more than the thermometer. Expensive for boiling water — but if you brew pour-over daily, it is the accessory that most improves the cup.

    Best for: Daily pour-over, where flow rate is the variable you are trying to control.

    8.6/10

    ≈ $195 / £165 / 180 €