Kiahia Christmas Edition

US$18.05

This “Christmas edition” coffee is one of the best Kenyan coffees we bought this year. It is rich and intense with complex flavours of fruits and berries.

Additional information

Weight	.311 kg
Dimensions	23 × 15 × 7.5 cm
Cultivar	SL28 & SL34
Flavour Notes	Winey, blacberries & blackcurrants
Producer	James Mugumo Munyiri
Country	Kenya
Region	Nyeri
Process	Washed
Harvest	December 2021
Roast Profile	Light Roast
Contents	Whole Coffee Beans
Bag Size	250g

Out of stock

This is a coffee of exceptional quality from a small estate in Kenya that until recently was owned and managed by Mr. James Mugumo Munyiri. Sadly James passed away this year and this is the last coffee he produced. Hopefully his family will continue his legacy.

The 10 hectare family farm is located on the highly productive eastern slopes of Aberdare.

There are 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 buy an estate coffee that can compete with the qualities we get from the cooperative societies in Kenya. In fact this was my favourite Kenyan coffee that we bought in 2021 and in 2022.

SL28 is one of the most popular cultivars grown in Kenya because of its high yields and superior quality in the cup. It is no secret that I love this fruity cultivar that at its best taste like black currant juice, rhubarb or rose hip tea. SL28 was a selection made by the Scott Agricultural Laboratories in the 1930’s and along with the SL34 cultivar it is the most commonly grown cultivar in Kenya and an important reason why everyone thinks about fruity coffees when they speak of Kenyan coffees.

KIAHIA ESTATE PRODUCTION PROCESS

Picking and sorting

The coffee cherries are hand picked by the farmer, his family and hired workers. Before processing, the ripe cherries are separated from the inferior ones. The different qualities are processed separately.

Depupling, fermenting & washing

The cherries are depulped and graded by using an old Aagard disc de-pulper that uses water and gravity to sort dense beans from less dense beans. Coffee of different grades are moved to separate fermentation tanks where the parchment coffee, with it’s mucilage still on, is dry fermented for about 12-36 hours over night. After fermentation the coffee is washed in clean water and graded once again by gravity. The more dense beans are dried separately from the beans with lower density and inferior quality.

Drying

The coffees are dried on elevated drying tables, where defect parchment coffee gets sorted out by hand. Drying the coffee takes about 10 – 14 days. During daytime the coffees are raked to ensure even drying. The drying tables are covered during the hottest times of the day to avoid over heating and also at night time to prevent condensation. The drying process is finished when the moisture content in the coffee beans is between 10-12%. The coffees we buy from Kenya are always vacuum packed before they are shipped to Norway.

For details on our current shipping information, please visit our FAQ page here.

If you still have any questions, please contact us here.

FILTER

We strongly recommend using the correct measurements and brewing techniques when you brew our coffees. Use a digital scale both to measure water and coffee in order to get consistent results, and we recommend using between 60 to 70 grams of coffee per litre (1000g) of water, depending on the brewing method, water quality and coffee used.

ESPRESSO

We strongly recommend using VST filter baskets. Both the 18g, 20g and the 22g basket is great for our coffee. The VST filters makes it a lot easier to extract the espresso properly which gives a lot more sweetness in the cup. They are also more or less identical to each other which makes it easy to be more consistent when brewing on several groups at the same time. You can buy the filters on our webshop, just make sure they fit your machine (ours fits all La Marzocco machines and machines with 58mm filter baskets). With the VST 18g filter basket, we recommend the following brewing parameters: 18-19g freshly-ground coffee, 25-35s brewing time, 35-38g of final brew liquid in the cup, 93°C-94°C brew water temperature.

Kiahia Estate

The 10 hectare family farm is located on the highly productive eastern slopes of Aberdare. There are 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 buy an estate coffee that can compete with the qualities we get from the cooperative societies in Kenya. In fact this was my favourite Kenyan coffee that we bought in 2021 and in 2022.

Transparency

This coffee was bought through the “direct sales” window in Kenya, which basically means we bought the coffee directly from the farmer and not through the weekly coffee auctions in Nairobi. Still there is need for a marketing agent, miller and exporter to help us buy and move the coffees. Our friends at Kahawa Bora (a marketing agent and coffee miller) offered us the coffee and made the contracts with the farmer. They work with many small estates in Kenya and provide training in good agricultural practices to the farmers. They also helped Mr. James with refining his coffee processing techniques and helped him improve the consistency and quality of his coffees. We ended up paying 6,21 USD per lb. FOB for the coffee.

Brewing guides

Browse our brewing guides to learn how to make great tasting coffee at home. No matter if you’re making french press, filter coffee, iced coffee or espresso – we’ll help you get the most out of your coffee.

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Kiahia Christmas Edition