Kenya Nyeri Gaturiri TOP Peaberry Premium Coffee Beans - Grind Size, Roast Level, Processing Methods

Kenya Nyeri Gaturiri Peaberry

Country: Kenya

Grade: TOP PB

Region: Nyeri

Roast Level: Light

Processing Method: Washed

Varieties: SL 28, SL 34

Processing Station: Thagini

Flavor Notes: Black plum, green grapes, cherry tomatoes

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227 g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

State: Roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Kenya

Roast Degree: Light roast

Kenya and Its Coffee

Located in East Africa, Kenya is one of the major coffee-producing countries, with roughly six million people working in the industry, most of them smallholders and cooperatives. Kenya's coffee trees grow mainly at altitudes of 1,400-2,000 meters, across regions such as Ruiri, Thika, Kirinyaga, Mt. Kenya West, Nyeri, Kiambu, and Muranga, largely on the foothills of Mount Kenya and the Aberdare range. Many of Kenya's growing regions work to preserve native forest ecosystems, protect natural gene banks, support the propagation of wild coffee varieties, and nurture diverse coffee trees.

In the early 20th century, French and British missionaries and researchers selected and bred Bourbon-lineage varieties in Kenya. Over the following century these varieties adapted to Kenya's high-phosphorus soil and developed the distinctive acidic aroma that sets Kenyan coffee apart from Bourbon beans in Central and South America. This native Kenyan variety was created in 1930 by Scott Laboratories, abbreviated as SL. Agronomists set out to develop a Bourbon variety that was disease- and pest-resistant and high-yielding, and the result was SL28.

SL28 is a genetic variant with a mixed heritage of French Mission, Mocha, and Yemeni Typica. The original goal was to mass-produce beans that combined high quality with disease and pest resistance. Although SL28's yields fell short of expectations, its copper-colored leaves and broad bean shape produce wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex, varied flavor, with prominent citrus and black plum. This important variety introduced the world to a uniquely Kenyan style: intense, rich fruit acidity, full body, and beautiful balance. Kenya AA is one of the notable grades built on it.

SL28 is a delicious variety suited to mid-to-high altitude areas with moderate leaf-rust pressure. It can yield 1.8 tons of green beans per hectare. Only when you taste that charming plum-like acidity do you truly understand why it is a Kenyan national treasure.

The Region

This green bean comes from the Thagini processing station in Nyeri, produced by surrounding family farms. On roughly 0.5 acres (about 2,023 square meters) of land, about 250 coffee trees are planted. Nyeri has long been a classic Kenyan coffee region, benefiting from the favorable environment Mount Kenya provides for cultivation. About 65% of Kenyan coffee comes from smallholders, with roughly 35% from large farms.

Flavor Profile

Classic Kenyan flavor: rich and full-bodied with caramel, blackcurrant, and apple notes. Clean with a long, lingering finish. The rich tropical fruit and fresh citrus aroma meets a sweet, fresh taste reminiscent of mango and plum preserves. At medium to low temperatures it releases refreshing lime notes, like drinking frozen fruit tea, and a very distinctive cherry tomato flavor. Full of the passionate, bold character that defines African beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the cherry tomato note in this Kenya is what catches your attention, FrontStreet Kenya Small Tomato delivers it even more directly. From Kenya's Thika region at 1,550-1,750 m, it uses the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties and the region's 72-hour double washed fermentation, then a light roast to protect its lively acidity. The dry fragrance is full of sun-dried tomato and flowers, the cup opens with clear cherry tomato and dark plum, the middle brings pear and black plum, and the finish stays clean and long with brown-sugar sweetness and a hint of green tea.

For another washed take on bright fruit, FrontStreet Gedeb Cooperative brings jasmine and citrus acidity with green tea and honey from a medium-light roast. It is a clean, elegant pour-over.