English · Contemporary
The Cup Without a Farm
An inspiring story of Muthoni, a talented tea taster who fights tea broker monopolies in Kericho and Mombasa to give independent tea farmers their own brand name and fair pricing.
The story
chapters
01— A Cup That Does Not Match the PaperBaraka Muli liked the first minutes in a cupping room, before people began talking.→02— The Date When the Coffee Did Not ExistCrown Ember Coffee's tasting office had one glass wall and another covered in photographs of misty farms.→03— The Farm With No HarvestThe road into Kirinyaga was still dark in places from the previous night's rain.→04— The Board of HoursMuthoni Njeri did not hug Baraka when he arrived at Kiamwangi Cooperative.→05— The Weight of Every BagThe next morning Muthoni placed her delivery cards in the middle of the cooperative yard.→06— The Swapped StackThe Embakasi warehouse smelled of jute, dust and forklift diesel.→07— Rain Over the ParchmentThe rain came to Kiamwangi without respecting anyone's schedule.→08— Two Tests, Two QuestionsSamuel Kiragu had a talent for irritating people by removing names from their samples.→09— The Debt of HelpMuthoni's kitchen was warmer than the lab and much less forgiving.→10— The Twenty-Four-Hour VoteThe cooperative hall was full before Karanja arrived.→11— Achieng's SignatureAchieng printed her exception log before Victor reached the quality office.→12— The Cup Without a NameEvery cup on the table had a number and no story.→13— The Brand That Eats NamesThe next stage was less dramatic than a tasting table and more dangerous to get wrong.→14— When the Auction StopsThe auction did not stop.→15— Twenty-Three MinutesMusa chose the warehouse because he did not trust memory in an office.→16— The Price Written on the WallAnger filled the cooperative hall more easily than a budget did.→17— A Lot With Its Own NameThe first verified micro-lot almost failed because of a misspelled farmer name.→18— A Name in the CupFour months later, Baraka had a cupping room of his own.→