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Your Coffee Subscription – June 2019

Dear Coffee Subscribers,

Good news. I have a friend to join me in this month’s episode of our Coffee Subscription Tasting with Friends video. This month, I am joined by Marit Islann, our barista and roaster. Marit has been working with us for about 4 years now and if you are regularly drinking some of our coffee at home, then chances are some of that coffee will have been roasted by her. In our latest episode of Coffee Subscription Tasting with Friends, we discuss things like:

– How we decide to roast our coffees
– Why we usually wait a week before tasting our test roast batches
– What’s a colour tracker and what do we use it for?
– What is a “peaberry”?
– And of course, more about the coffees you will receive this month

 Enjoy.

Filter & Espresso

Karogoto AA, Nyeri, Kenya 1 bag, 2 bags, 3 bags

Producer: Several  smallholder farmers
Harvest: December 2018
Origin: Nyeri, Kenya
Cultivar: SL28, SL23, Ruiru 11 & Batian
Process: Washed
Flavour notes:
Rose hips, red apples, blackberries

This is the fresh crop harvest from the Karogoto wet mill that we have been buying coffee from for many years. Although 2018 was a difficult growing season for most Kenyan coffee farmers due to heavy rains and outbreaks of coffee berry disease, the members at Karogoto were encouraged to invest in farm inputs in order not to have too much loss of crop. Partly because of this, there was plenty of coffee being delivered to the wet mill during the harvest season. I was also able to communicate directly with the factory manager, Ephraim, in order to reserve the best lots they produced for a final tasting and selection. Out of 5 of the top lots they produced, I picked out the two that I liked the most and bought both the AA (screen size 17-18) which are the bigger beans, and the peaberries (see below). This coffee is so sweet and fruity without being too tart in the acidity like some other coffees can be from this region. With fruit notes like rose hips, red apples, stone fruit and a bit of floral notes, it makes for a refreshing cup of coffee for the summer weather. It is also really nice to drink chilled, but then I personally prefer to add a tad of sweetness to the drink. Check out our youtube video on how we make chilled Kenyan coffee in our bar.

Kapsokisio, Mt. Elgon, Kenya 2 bags, 3 bags

Producer: Several  smallholder farmers
Harvest: December 2018
Origin: Mt. Elgon, Kenya
Cultivar: K7,  SL28 & SL34
Process: Washed
Flavour notes: Baked stone fruit, apples & raspberries

I struggled finding a good lot from Kapsokisio this year. I tasted almost every lot / outturn they sent to the exporter and auction and unfortunately there were a lot of samples with defects such as over fermentation (vinegary/rotten taste) and phenol (a kind of mouldy and medicinal taste). This was due to a lot of rain during harvest and I also believe they are having capacity problems as a lot of farmers are delivering cherries to the wet mill at the same time and therefore drying can be an issue. Nevertheless, among the three best tasting lots there was one that stood out from the rest and I was very happy to be able to buy coffee from this wet mill located at Mt. Elgon at the boarder of Uganda once again. About 90% of the farmers who deliver cherries to Kapsokisio grow the variety named K7, and only about 10% of the coffee is SL28 and SL34 varieties . This makes a unique coffee from Kenya with a lot more baked fruit character and a green apple-like and tart acidity.

Karogoto PB, Nyeri, Kenya 3 bags

Producer: Several  smallholder farmers
Harvest: December 2018
Origin: Nyeri, Kenya
Cultivar: SL28, SL23, Ruiru 11 & Batian
Process: Washed
Flavour notes:
Rose hips, red apples, blackberries

This is from the same lot as the AA above, but the peaberries are the small beans that occur in cherries that just develop one coffee bean inside. It has a round shape which might make it slightly easier to develop in the roast as the shape and size of the beans are round and even. Theories aside, this peaberry has a slightly more intense acidity and a richer mouthfeel than the AA, and I think the black currant flavours are coming through a bit more in the Peaberry.  I highly recommend tasting it next to the AA lot so that you can taste the difference.

As always, we hope you enjoy these coffees as much as we have had sourcing and roasting them for you. In the meantime, feel free to check out our website for more brewing tips and techniques.

Cheers,
Tim

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