Why Does Kenya Coffee Taste Like Cherry Tomato and Prune?

Kenyan coffee is known for strong, full-bodied acidity with distinctive cherry tomato and prune flavors, and Starbucks has offered a Kenya coffee since 1971 with an elephant on the packaging. The Starbucks Reserve Kenya bean is double washed, grown at around 1,500 meters, roasted medium to medium-dark, and a 250-gram pack sells for about 85 yuan.

The flavor comes from producing conditions, variety, and the K72 washed processing method, while the coffee bean grades AA and PB sort lots by screen size. The article covers the grading system and shares roasting parameters and brewing suggestions for the AA-grade Kenya Little Tomato and PB-grade beans introduced by Front Street Coffee.

Kenyan coffee has always been famous for its strong, full-bodied acidity and distinctive cherry tomato and prune flavors, standing alongside Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe as one of Africa's two major coffee representatives. Starbucks has offered Kenya coffee since 1971, and the elephant design on its packaging has become a classic symbol. This article will comprehensively analyze the reasons behind the formation of Kenyan coffee's flavor, from the growing conditions of the producing region, variety characteristics, and the K72 washed processing method to the coffee bean grading system, and share detailed information, roasting parameters, and brewing suggestions for the AA-grade Kenya Little Tomato and PB-grade coffee beans introduced by Front Street Coffee, helping coffee lovers gain a deeper understanding of this premium producing region.

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Have you heard of the Kenyan coffee beans offered by Starbucks? This coffee originates from Kenya in Africa, is processed using a double washed method, is typically grown at an altitude of around 1,500 meters, has a medium-to-medium-dark roast level, and a 250-gram package sells for about 85 yuan.

Friends new to Kenyan coffee are often conquered by its uniquely distinctive flavor—the acidity reminiscent of cherry tomatoes and prunes stands out especially, and the overall quality is first-rate. Starbucks also has a Kenya coffee from Kenya—what exactly are its characteristics? Next, Front Street Coffee will take everyone through them one by one.

The Background Story of Starbucks Kenya Coffee

As everyone knows, Kenya is located on the African continent, and when people think of Africa, what often comes to mind are vast savannas and herds of elephants. For this reason, the packaging of Starbucks Kenya coffee features an elephant, a highly symbolic African image. This coffee also has quite a history—it was first launched in 1971, and the elephant image on the packaging has long been deeply ingrained, becoming an iconic symbol of Kenyan coffee.

Many people therefore also like to use the African elephant as a metaphor for the flavor characteristics of Kenyan coffee beans—a strong and full-bodied acidity, completely different from Ethiopia's citrus-lemon style acidity. This is also one of the reasons why Kenyan coffee can stand shoulder to shoulder with Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe and jointly carry the banner of African coffee. So what exactly creates such outstanding flavor in Kenyan coffee? Front Street Coffee will reveal it next.

Growing Conditions of Kenya's Coffee Producing Regions

Front Street Coffee has mentioned many times in previous articles that the flavor performance of a coffee bean is mainly influenced by three aspects: the growing conditions of the producing region, the coffee variety, and the processing method. Among these, the producing region and variety are the prerequisites that determine the direction of the flavor, while the processing method is like the refinement and sculpting of the flavor. Below, Front Street Coffee will analyze the causes of Kenyan coffee's flavor characteristics around these three points.

Kenya is located in eastern Africa, with the equator running through its center from east to west and the East African Rift Valley running north to south. It borders Somalia to the east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, Ethiopia and Sudan to the north, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast. Kenya's terrain is mainly plateau, with an average elevation of about 1,500 meters. Mount Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya) in the center reaches 5,199 meters above sea level, with snow on its summit year-round, making it Africa's second-highest peak. Because the equator runs through the country, Kenya lies within ten degrees north and south latitude, belongs to a tropical producing region, and has two rainy seasons each year, so it can harvest coffee twice a year, with 60% of production concentrated from October to December and the remaining 40% completed from June to August.

According to Front Street Coffee's understanding, most Kenyan coffee is grown in the fertile, loose, acidic volcanic red soil of the highlands north and east of Nairobi. This area has abundant sunlight, excellent drainage, and an altitude range of 1,400 to 2,000 meters. The higher the altitude, the greater the temperature difference between day and night, and Kenyan coffee's ripening cycle is longer than that of lower-altitude producing regions, thus developing higher bean density and more intense flavor.

From Front Street Coffee's analysis above, it can be seen that Kenya's coffee producing regions indeed possess natural advantages for growing high-quality coffee beans, and under such exceptional conditions, the quality of the coffee beans produced is naturally outstanding. In addition, Kenya mainly cultivates the Arabica variety, which is hailed as one of the highest-quality coffee varieties in the world. Its notable characteristic is that the higher the growing altitude, the richer the acidity, which is also an important reason why Kenyan coffee's acidity is so pleasing.

Kenyan Coffee Varieties

In Kenya, common cultivated varieties include SL28, SL34, Batian, and Ruiru11. These varieties were all independently researched and bred by the Kenyan coffee laboratory, which shows the degree of importance the Kenyan government attaches to the coffee industry and is also the reason why Kenyan coffee's acidity differs from that of neighboring countries.

SL28

According to historical documents, a senior coffee official at the Scott Laboratories (A.D. Trench) once noticed that a variety growing in Tanzania's Mod region seemed tolerant to drought, disease, and pests. After the seeds were collected and brought back to the Scott Laboratories, their drought resistance was verified.

Genetic testing in recent years has also confirmed that SL28 belongs to the Bourbon genetic group, so the appearance of SL28 coffee beans is also close to the Bourbon variety—round and plump. Through the SL28 variety, Front Street has found that its flavor presents complex and varied acidity as well as very excellent sweetness.

SL34

SL34 was originally selected from the "French Missionary" (Bourbon) at the Loresho estate in Kabit. But according to information Front Street Coffee has reviewed, genetic testing of this variety has now confirmed that it contains the Typica genetic group, and the plant's performance characteristics are also similar to Typica, so it is believed that SL34 was selected from a Typica source. Because it is close to the Typica variety, SL34 coffee beans are slender and oval-shaped, appearing relatively flat from the side.

Ruiru11

The Ruiru variety appeared after SL28 and SL34. According to Front Street's understanding, in the 1970s the Ruiru station began trying to breed different CBD- and rust-resistant varieties, and the final result was Ruiru11, officially released in the 1980s. It has high yield and also possesses CBD and rust resistance, seemingly solving all the problems in Kenyan coffee production at once.

Batian

The Batian variety was released by the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) on September 8, 2010, and is Kenya's newest variety to date. It drew lessons from Ruiru11 and improved upon them. From a genetic perspective, it was essentially selected from backcrosses of SL28 and SL34, making it closer to SL28 than Ruiru11, thereby eliminating the problematic Robusta variety coffee bean elements and improving cup quality.

Kenyan Coffee Processing Method—K72 Washed Processing

In addition, Kenya is also unique in its method of processing green coffee beans, using the domestically developed K72 washed processing method. The specific process of this method is: after washing clean ripe, plump coffee cherries, remove the skin, carry out dry fermentation for 24 hours, then wash, carry out dry fermentation again for 24 hours, wash again, then carry out dry fermentation again for 24 hours, repeating this cycle for a cumulative total of 72 hours of intensive fermentation. After washing, the beans are soaked in clean water tanks overnight, and the next morning they are moved to drying beds for drying. Because the fermentation time is as long as 72 hours, it is named K72.

Kenyan Coffee Bean Grading System

From the description above by Front Street Coffee, coffee lovers have already learned how much importance Kenya attaches to its coffee industry. Precisely because of this, Kenya also has extremely high pursuit of coffee quality and implements a coffee bean grading system. For example, AA-grade coffee beans have the highest quality. Although it is called "grading," is AA grade necessarily better tasting than AB grade? What exactly is the standard for this grading system?

According to Front Street Coffee's understanding, Kenya's coffee bean grading standard is mainly based on bean size, and the difference between AA and AB lies only in size. As for taste quality, Front Street Coffee has reached the conclusion through cupping that whether AA or AB grade Kenyan coffee beans, they are all very delicious coffees. Differences in taste among different producing regions may come more from factors such as region, altitude, and growing conditions. But AA and AB grade Kenyan coffee are definitely the ones with the most guaranteed quality.

In summary, these grades are merely distinctions in bean size. And the most famous processing method for Kenyan coffee beans is none other than the K72 washed processing method, so Kenya's highest-quality coffee beans are basically washed. Washed coffee is roughly divided into eight grades:

E: Elephant Bean, also known as Elephant ear, flat beans with a screen size of 19 and above. AA: screen size 17 to 18

AB: screen size 15 to 16, accounting for the majority of production TT: lighter-weight beans blown out from AA and AB grade beans by an airflow separator C: screen size smaller than AB/14 and below, too small in size to be classified as specialty grade. T: lighter-weight beans blown out from C grade beans (14 and below) by an airflow separator, meaning both size and density are too small to be classified as specialty grade.

PB: Peaberry, meaning round bean, classified not by size but by shape, unrelated to flavor or weight, accounting for about 10% of total production UG: those not meeting the above standards

There are also lower-quality sun-dried coffee bean grades, which are not subjected to Kenyan-style washed processing due to poorer quality and are generally supplied to Kenya's domestic market. This bean grade is called M'buni.

In addition, one point Front Street Coffee wants to emphasize is that this "green bean grading system," still in use today, was issued by a government department in 1938, even 40 years earlier than the birth of the concept of "specialty coffee." So today's Kenya has long had new concepts for coffee bean grading standards, but the size-based grading standard is still the more commonly seen one.

The following are Kenya's current new coffee grading standards:

According to Front Street Coffee's understanding, when assessing coffee quality, Kenyan coffee research institutions and the local industry customarily use a coffee bean quality grading procedure formulated by the Kenya coffee research institution, grading comprehensively based on three aspects: green bean quality, roasted bean quality, and cupping quality.

Green bean quality: The judging items are further subdivided into green bean appearance size, green bean color, and defects. Roasted bean quality: Subdivided into center cut condition, roasted bean condition, and defective beans. Cupping quality: Scored by acidity, body/texture, flavor, and negative defects.

Combining the scores from the three aspects, coffee beans are divided into grades 1 to 10, with grade 1 being the best and grade 10 the worst.

From the above, it can be seen that the difference between AA grade coffee beans and AB grade and PB grade coffee beans lies only in size. But overall, coffee beans with larger screen sizes also have a lower defect rate, so the flavor is naturally cleaner, and the price is naturally more expensive.

The above is the relevant information on Kenyan coffee beans compiled by Front Street Coffee. Front Street Coffee has also introduced an AA-grade Front Street Kenya Little Tomato coffee bean and a PB-grade coffee bean. Little Tomato can be ordered at Front Street stores and the Front Street Tmall flagship store, so now let's share them with everyone!

Front Street Coffee Kenya Little Tomato Coffee Beans

Country: Kenya Region: Asali (Honey Processing Station) Altitude: 1550-1750m Variety: SL28, SL34 Processing Method: 72-hour washed processing Flavor: Snow pear, smoked plum, yellow sugar, cherry tomato, plum

Sharing of Front Street Coffee's Roasting Parameters

Kenya Asalia Coffee Beans: This bean is plump and round. In order to fully express its bright and mellow acidity, Front Street Coffee adopted a light roast level.

Yangjia 800N semi-direct fire, bean charge 480g: charge when the drum temperature reaches 160°C, open the airflow damper to 3, heat power 120. Turning point: 1'28". When the temperature rises to 130°C, open the airflow damper to 4. Roast until 6'00'', temperature 154.6°C, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and dehydration is complete. When ugly wrinkles and dark spots appear on the bean surface and the toasted bread smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen clearly for the sound of the first crack point. At 9'28'' first crack begins, the airflow damper remains unchanged, first crack development time is 2'20'', and the beans are dropped at 193.8°C.

Front Street Coffee's Brewing Suggestions

Dripper: V60 or cake cup Water temperature: 91-92°C Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: fine grind (80% passing rate on Chinese standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing method: staged extraction. Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, pour in a small stream in circles until 124 grams for the stage break, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 228 grams and stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts at the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 1'55".

Asalia Coffee Bean Flavor: The wet aroma has ripe tomato and floral notes; on the palate there are flavors of cherry tomato and smoked plum, with bright acidity, a clean and rich mouthfeel, prominent sweetness in the middle, a juicy feel, a finish of berry aroma and yellow sugar sweetness, and green tea aroma.

Sasini Coffee Bean Flavor: It smells floral; on the palate there is acidity of cherry tomato, citrus, and nuts, with creamy aroma in the middle, brown sugar sweetness returning, and a finish of cocoa and oolong tea tea-like notes. The flavor layers are relatively rich, with obvious floral notes.

The above are the flavor characteristics of these two coffee beans in Front Street Coffee's shop. We hope this can help everyone gain a deeper understanding of Kenya coffee-related knowledge, so that in the future, when choosing coffee beans from different producing regions, you can avoid pitfalls.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.