Dear Coffee Subscribers,
Summer has entered for full here in Norway and most of the Norwegians has started their summer vacation. As traveling outside of Norway is still restricted, many of us will take the opportunity to explore the beautiful country we are living in. It feels nice to know that we will be left with more knowledge about our own country by the end of this summer. We will visit places we never have visited before and experience things we probably wouldn’t have experienced if it wouldn’t have been for these circumstances.
I am happy to announce that our Kenyan coffees have arrived and what better way to start the summer than with some refreshingly fruity coffee? This month I have picked out three different Kenyan coffees for you. One of the best coffees we bought in Kenya this year from the Gachatha wet mill, the well known and fruity coffee from Karinga and an intense fruit bomb from Kiahia Estate. All three of these are tasting really fresh and will make an excellent Iced Coffee.
Gachatha 1+ bag
Flavour notes: Winey, black currants & buttery
Producer: Several smallholder farmers
Harvest: December 2019
Origin: Nyeri, Kenya
Process: Washed
Cultivar: SL28 & SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian
Gachatha is a small cooperative with only one wet mill located in Nyeri. The around 1000 members are all smallholder farmers cultivating on average around 150 coffee trees each. This means that getting our hands on this delicious coffee is not easy as the coffee produced at Gachatha has consistently been among the best coffees we have tasted in Kenya for the last 8 years and there are plenty of buyers who want this coffee. Fortunately we managed to get our hands on a small amount this year.
Karinga 2+ bags
Flavour notes: Floral, blackberries & rose hips
Producer: Several smallholder farmers
Harvest: December 2019
Origin: Kiambu, Kenya
Process: Washed
Cultivar: SL28 & SL34
This coffee is grown at around 1900 masl in Kiambu where the climate is cool and makes the coffee ripen slower and develop more flavour, sweetness and acidity.
Most of the members who sell their coffee cherries to this wet mill grow mainly the SL28 cultivar and have not been planting the hybrids Batian and Ruiru 11. The SL28 cultivar is famous for its fruity flavour and high quality. It also has less problems with leaf rust at this altitude and produces well and that is why the farmers have continued to grow this cultivar.
It is the third year in a row that we are buying coffee from this washing station and that is no coincidence. I really love the clean and intense fruity flavour profile of this coffee which is a result of both favourable growing conditions and also due to the excellent processing and drying methods they use.
Kiahia Estate 3+ bags
Flavour notes: Tamarind, hibiscus & rhubarb
Producer: James Mugumo Munyiri
Harvest: December 2019
Origin: Nyeri, Kenya
Process: Washed
Cultivar: SL28 & SL34
I have been traveling to Kenya for the last years in order to seek out smaller estates to see if there are some potential producers we could work with long term. I finally managed to buy something that I think is of exceptional quality. Although I have not visited Kiahia estate personally yet, I could not help buying this coffee when I cupped it as it was so intense and fruity. The 10 hectare family farm is located on the highly productive eastern slopes of Aberdare. There is only SL 28 and SL 34 cultivars planted on this farm which is probably why the coffee is so elegant and fruity. Most of the trees were planted in 1959 and some were planted in 1970. Thanks to our friends at Kahawa Bora we were able to finally get our hands on an estate coffee that can compete with the qualities we get from the cooperative societies in Kenya. Hopefully we will be able to go visit the family at Kiahia estate soon and hopefully also get more of their coffees in the future.
Thanks for reading and as always, we hope you enjoy the coffees and learning from our monthly videos. If you need some brewing tips, visit our website.
Cheers,
Tim & Co