What Gives Kenya Coffee Beans Their Blackberry and Grapefruit Notes?
Kenya AA Gichugu coffee beans trace their flavor to the SL-28 and SL-34 varieties grown in volcanic soil at high altitude. In the cup they show blackberry and grapefruit-like fruit, a crisp medium body and a fresh finish that suits iced coffee, which is why many drinkers describe lightly roasted Kenyan lots as closer to fruit tea than to conventional coffee.
Kenya began large-scale coffee growing only in the early twentieth century, after Brazilian Bourbon seeds arrived in 1893 alongside earlier Arabica trees brought from Yemen. Terroir, climate and processing then pulled Kenyan flavor away from the Brazilian model. Careful picking and selective harvesting of ripe cherries, plus the Coffee Board of Kenya auction system, shape both quality and price.
Kenya AA Gichugu specialty coffee beans, with the two legendary varieties SL-28 and SL-34 and unique terroir conditions, have become the object of pursuit for coffee connoisseurs worldwide. From Ethiopia to Yemen, and then to the introduction of Brazilian Bourbon seeds, Kenyan coffee has gone through more than a century of evolution. This article will guide you through its origin and development, enumerate its blackberry and grapefruit-like fruity flavors, help you master the most suitable brewing temperature and drinking rhythm, and introduce the auction system of the Coffee Board of Kenya as well as changes in production and prices worldwide. At the end, there is also a medium-light roast profile recommended by Front Street Coffee to help you unlock the best expression of this bean.
The country where Kenya AA coffee beans are located borders to the north the very birthplace of the Arabica coffee tree, Ethiopia. However, Kenya truly began coffee cultivation only in the early twentieth century. In the nineteenth century, missionaries had brought Arabica trees from Yemen, but large-scale planting did not take shape. It was not until 1893, when Brazil's ancient Bourbon coffee seeds were introduced, that Kenya embarked on the path of large-scale coffee cultivation. In other words, today's Kenyan coffee carries Brazilian bloodlines, but because the terroir, climate, and processing methods are completely different, Kenyan beans and Brazilian beans diverge in flavor, with the former being aromatic and rich, distinctly fruity, and full of layered mouthfeel. Kenyan coffee has a wonderful fruity character, and when drinking it one can catch traces of blackberry and grapefruit, which is why it has become the favorite of many coffee connoisseurs. It has an excellent medium body, a crisp and refreshing mouthfeel, and a fresh flavor, making it especially suitable for iced coffee in summer. If paired with acidic fruits such as pomelo when tasting, it can deliver an excellent coffee experience. The common impression many people have of this light-roasted Kenyan coffee is: "It doesn't taste much like coffee, but rather a bit like fruit tea."
Aromatic, rich, with fruity flavors, and a full, perfect mouthfeel. Kenyan coffee has a wonderful fruity flavor, with a taste reminiscent of blackberry and grapefruit, and it is the favorite of many coffee connoisseurs. This coffee has an excellent medium body, a crisp and refreshing mouthfeel. The flavor is fresh and most suitable for making iced coffee in summer. When tasting this coffee, if paired with acidic fruits such as pomelo, it will surely give me the best coffee experience. "It doesn't taste much like coffee, but rather a bit like fruit tea" is the common feeling many people have toward this light-roasted Kenyan coffee.
The two varieties SL-28 and SL-34 helped Kenyan coffee shape a distinctive flavor personality and also won an almost perfect reputation in the coffee world. Although SL28 later did not reach expected yields, its bronze-leaf-colored, broad-bean-shaped beans nevertheless possess excellent sweetness, balance, and complex, ever-changing flavors, as well as signature citrus and smoked plum notes. SL34 is similar in flavor to SL28, and in addition to complex and varied acidity and a beautiful sweet finish, its mouthfeel is heavier and richer than SL28, with even better cleanliness. SL34 combines the genes of French missionaries, Bourbon, and more Typica. Its bean appearance is similar to SL28, but it can better withstand sudden heavy rain. It is precisely these two pivotal varieties that led us to understand the unique Kenyan style: intense and rich fruit acidity, a rich mouthfeel, and beautiful balance.
Knowing only superb brewing techniques but not how to appreciate coffee can make even the finest deliciousness seem bland. When tasting coffee, sometimes you need to use the sense of taste on your tongue to capture it, and sometimes you enjoy that aromatic mellow richness spreading through the mouth; in addition, it also depends on your physical state when drinking coffee, the surrounding atmosphere, and so on. In short, tasting coffee is a very subtle matter.
In coffee shops of poorer quality, sometimes you may be served coffee that is almost half-cold; no matter how good the beans are or how brilliant the brewing method is, this will make people lose the desire to drink coffee. "Drink it while it's hot" is a necessary condition for enjoying delicious coffee, and the same principle applies even when drinking hot coffee in the heat of midsummer. Once coffee becomes icy cold, the flavor will be compromised, so during brewing, in order not to let the flavor dissipate, the coffee cup should first be scalded with boiling water. The appropriate temperature of coffee is 83°C at the moment of brewing, 80°C when poured into the cup, and 61-62°C is most ideal when entering the mouth. Delicious coffee, in addition to requiring an appropriate temperature, also needs an appropriate amount. Drinking coffee is not like drinking alcohol or fruit juice; a full cup makes people lose interest at a glance. Usually, filling it to seven or eight tenths is the appropriate amount. A moderate amount of coffee will not only stimulate the sense of taste, but after finishing it you will not feel "cloyed"; instead, it leaves a long aftertaste. At the same time, an appropriate amount of coffee can moderately help the body eliminate fatigue and keep the mind clear.
The taste of coffee ranges from strong to mild, so you cannot drink three or four cups in a row like tea or cola; the amount in a formal coffee cup is just right. For ordinary coffee drinking, 80-100cc is the appropriate amount; if you want to drink three or four cups in succession, you should dilute the coffee concentration or add a large amount of milk, but you should still take physiological tolerance into account when increasing or decreasing the concentration, that is, do not reach the point of feeling cloyed or nauseated, and at the same time you may vary the sugar as much as possible to make the coffee more delicious.
As usual, we chose the familiar medium-light roast, but in order to preserve the very rich fruity flavors inherent in the green beans, we raised the bean charge temperature to 210°C and kept the turning point at 125°C. After charging, observe the turning point and then steam-bake over low heat. At 4 minutes 30 seconds, observe until the coffee beans have whitened evenly, then increase to high heat so that dehydration is completed at around 5 minutes 30 seconds. At 8 minutes when it reaches 175°C, lower the heat again so that the coffee beans undergo incomplete dehydration condensation, producing chlorogenic acid lactones and adding overall balance. The total roasting time is 10 minutes 30 seconds, and the acidity is very soft and delicate. The Kenyan government treats the coffee industry with extreme seriousness; here, cutting down or destroying coffee trees is illegal. Buyers of Kenyan coffee are all world-class purchasers of high-quality coffee, and no country can continuously grow, produce, and sell coffee like Kenya. All coffee beans are first purchased by the Coffee Board of Kenya (CBK), where they are appraised and graded, and then sold at weekly auctions, where they are no longer graded. The Coffee Board of Kenya only acts as an agent, collecting coffee samples and distributing them to buyers so that they can determine price and quality. The Nairobi auction is held for private exporters, and the Coffee Board of Kenya pays growers a price below market price. The best coffee grade is Peaberry (PB), followed by AA++, AA+, AA, AB, and so on in order. Superior coffee is bright and lustrous, delicious and tasty, with a slight winey aroma. Organizing auctions is also intended to meet the needs of blenders. Such auctions usually involve small lot sizes (3-6 tons each), with samples bearing the grower's mark for buyers to taste. After the auction, exporters package according to different flavors, different qualities, and the quantities required by blenders. This provides blenders with great flexibility. Quality-focused Germans and Northern Europeans are long-term buyers of Kenyan coffee.
Internationally speaking, the growth in Kenyan coffee volume is obvious. In 1969-1970, exports were 800,000 bags, and by 1985-1986, export volume increased to 2 million bags. Now production is stable at 1.6 million bags, with an average yield of about 650 kilograms per hectare. Even before the recent sharp rise in coffee prices, the average price of Kenyan coffee had been rising. The 1993-1994 price was 50% higher than 12 months earlier. The price increase was mainly the result of increased demand.
Some buyers, especially Japanese traders, have expressed dissatisfaction with Kenya's coffee industry system. Some traders have even said that the country's coffee quality has declined and pointed out that buying directly from farmers may be a way to improve quality. But in any case, Kenya's detailed rules and regulations and sound procedures are a model worth learning from for all coffee-producing countries.
Last year, due to increased global supply, international coffee prices continued to fall, and Kenyan coffee prices once fell to their lowest level since 2007, severely affecting the livelihoods of millions of coffee farmers. Since the beginning of this year, because drought weather in Brazil led to expectations of lower coffee production, coffee prices have rebounded somewhat.
Large farms usually have independent processing facilities. The numerous smallholder farmers usually hand-pick ripe coffee cherries themselves. Coffee picking is labor-intensive work, and during the harvest season the whole family may need to pitch in and workers may even have to be hired. The picked fresh coffee cherries need to be transported promptly to cooperative-owned coffee processing factories for pulping, and the means of transport may be ox carts, pickup trucks, or lorries. After pulping, the parchment coffee is briefly kept at the cooperative's processing plant and then sent to privately owned factories for hulling. Kenya's coffee-producing areas are mainly concentrated in the highland regions represented by Mt. Kenya. The tropical climate and acidic red volcanic soil provide a naturally suitable growing environment for coffee. The seven major producing areas are the most famous, including Nyeri, Thika, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Ruiru, Murang'a, and the western side of Mount Kenya, with major producing areas such as Nyeri and Ruiru in the center. What was first brought to Kenya for planting was Bourbon. In the 1950s, the agricultural research institution then known as the Scott Laboratory, through unremitting efforts, bred two excellent hybrid varieties, SL-28 and SL-34, overturning the long-held prejudice that artificially selected varieties were not as good as natural varieties.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
