GLORIA GUMMERUS II

We have worked with Gloria and her coffee from the Trans-Nzoia region every year since starting von&vonnie, we immediately fell in love with her coffees due to the incredibly rich profile.

This is our first year buying this Washed SL28 single cultivar lot. This coffee presents everything we wish for in a Kenya, with bright fruit forwardness, great tart finish and a great complexity whilst maintaining fantastic fidelity.

This coffee is truly one for that vibrant, juicy pour over, we only bought a small amount of this coffee, so it might not last too long!

About Sakami

We have been mesmerised by the work of Sakami since long before we started von&vonnie, the coffees we work with such as the Batian microlot from Gloria and now also her SL28, are a fantastic representation of the care and love that this group put into their coffee. Sakami is admittedly a project that we fell in love with because of the way the coffee tasted, but then the more we learnt the more we fell in love with the work they are doing.

Sakami is located in the Trans-Nzoia county and operates with a different model to traditional Kenyan coffee, where usually lots are a collation of thousands of small holders. The lots at Sakami are larger, single farmer lots with much greater transparency and traceability to show who is involved in these projects. It is an area that was not seen as being ideal for coffee growing, but Sakami are pioneers in recognising this region as a fantastic area, with 1,800Masl average altitude, cool temperatures and volcanic soils being perfect for Arabica.

The project was founded by Gloria Gummerus, who’s name you will surely recognise from our bags, she is one of the female producers of the group, but not the only one, Rosabella, Jane, Shantelle to name a few are also producing exceptional coffees that we hope to one day also showcase.

One of the fundamental differences is that Sakami operates on its own to market and sell its own coffees, allowing them to extract greater value from the supply chain. Recently we had the opportunity to sit with Gloria and her husband Jarmo to talk about the project, it is really inspiring, they do not only produce coffee, despite it being their key commodity, but also they are producing avocados and macadamia. Gloria told us that she is currently trying to sell avocados in the European market.

Sakami separates itself from traditional Kenyan supply chains by offering dry processed coffees as well as wet, Kenya is typically known for washed coffees, but we have become infatuated by the naturals coming from this group as they are truly rich in red fruits. They also offer single cultivar, which we particularly enjoy as typically we see SL28, 34, Ruiru 11, K7 and Batian as blends, but when we get them individually, they really sing in their own ways with fantastic fidelity.

About the processing: Ripe coffee cherries are handpicked and pulped to remove the outer skin and mucilage. After a second wash, the beans are dried in the sun until they reach the desired moisture content. Once dried, the beans are hulled to remove the parchment layer, revealing the green coffee beans inside. Finally, the beans are sorted and graded by size, density, and quality. This results in a crisp, bold cup with pronounced acidity and clarity of flavours. (source)

About the Roast: With these washed Kenyans, we love to really be able to push extraction, to really get the most out of those fruit forward, tart acidic characteristics. That’s why we roasted this coffee fast, with a short development. Roast Level: Very light (98 Agtron)

About the coffee:
Region: Barbeton, Kiminini, Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya
Altitude: 1,800 MASL
Importer: ThisSideUp
Exporter: Sakami
Harvest: Januray 2026
Farmgate price: Work in Progress
FOB Price: Work in Progress

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