What does Mbuni mean in coffee?

Mbuni is a Swahili term used in Kenya and East Africa for dry-processed (natural) coffee - cherries dried whole with fruit skin intact, rather than being pulped and washed as is standard Kenyan practice.

In Kenya, most coffee is fully washed. Mbuni is typically the secondary stream: cherries that fell to the ground, couldn't be pulped quickly enough, or were left on the tree as the season wound down. These end-of-season lots tend to be lower grade than the main washed production and are sold separately.

That said, some Kenyan producers are now making intentional, quality-focused natural lots under the Mbuni designation - selecting ripe cherry specifically for dry processing rather than using leftovers. The results can be genuinely interesting: the fruity, heavier character of a natural against the underlying brightness of Kenyan genetics is a combination worth seeking out if you encounter a well-made version.