Kenya Washed AA Grade Kirinyaga Region Kabare Kongyu Coffee Bean Varieties, Brand Recommendations, and Estates

This lot of Kongyu AA coffee cherries was harvested and processed by 250 farmers working with the Kongyu processing plant, under the Kabare Farmers Cooperative Society. Once the cherries are depulped, fermented, and washed with water drawn from the nearby Kongyu River, the coffee is laid out on African drying beds to dry. Each harvest season, the farmers process nearly 300 tons of coffee cherries. When processing wraps up, the coffee goes to the weekly auction held every Wednesday in Nairobi; once it has been bought by licensed exporters, it ships out to consumer markets around the world.

With every Kenyan coffee we have tasted before, we went chasing those sharp, powerful fruit acids. This particular Kenya, however, struck us with its gentleness — like standing by the sea with a soft breeze on your face.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Degree: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Kenya
Coffee Type: Other
Roast Level: Light roast

Brewing Method

Hand-poured Kongyu: use 15g of coffee, ground medium-fine (Fujiray ghost tooth grinder at setting 3.5), a V60 dripper, and water at 91-93°C. Pour 30g of water first for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Once the water level drops to half, continue pouring slowly until you reach 225g. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Coffee Details

Country: Kenya
Grade: AA
Region: Kirinyaga region
Altitude: 1550-1750 meters
Soil: Red phosphate soil
Processing Method: Kenyan double-washed processing
Varieties: SL 28, SL 34
Processing Plant: Kongyu Processing Plant
Producer: Kabare Cooperative Society
Flavor: Grapefruit green tea, citrus, raspberry black plum

About Kenyan Coffee

Kenya, in East Africa, is one of the world's major coffee-producing countries. Roughly six million people nationwide work in the coffee industry, mostly as smallholder farmers and cooperatives.

Kenyan coffee trees are grown mostly at altitudes between 1,400-2,000 meters. The growing regions include Ruiri, Thika, Kirinyaga, Mt. Kenya West, Nyeri, Kiambu, and Muranga, primarily on the foothills of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdares.

Many of Kenya's coffee-growing regions work hard to preserve their native forest ecosystems, protect natural gene banks, support the propagation of wild coffee varieties, and nurture a diverse range of coffee trees.

In 1930, in this favorable environment, Kenya's signature varieties SL28 and SL34 were born, bred and named by "Scott Laboratories."

According to the SL Laboratory botanists, SL28 and SL34 are genetic variants. SL28 carries mixed lineage from French Mission, Mocha, and Yemen Typica, and the original goal of breeding it was to mass-produce beans that combined high quality with resistance to diseases and pests.

Although SL28 never delivered the huge yields hoped for, its copper-colored leaves and broad, bean-shaped seeds produce wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex, varied flavors, with prominent citrus and dark plum characteristics. SL34 tastes similar to SL28, but beyond its complex, varied acidity and lovely sweet finish, its body is heavier and richer than SL28's — and cleaner. SL34 carries French Mission, Bourbon, and more Typica lineage. Its beans look much like SL28's, but the plant copes better with sudden heavy rains. It is these two landmark varieties that taught us the unmistakable Kenyan style: intense, lush fruit acids, a rich body, and beautiful balance.

Flavor Profile

Strong lemon and plum aromas rise in both the dry and the wet fragrance. At a light roast, the cup opens with stunning floral and lemon notes, plus the sweet-tart juiciness of grapefruit green tea and citrus. A slightly deeper roast brings out honey and raspberry black plum, while the aftertaste lingers with the pleasant sweet-tart snap of green tea.

This Kenya coffee comes from the Kongyu Processing Plant of the Kabare Cooperative Society in Kenya's Kirinyaga region. Processed by the Kenyan double-washed method, it grows on the eastern slopes of the Kenyan mountains in Embu County at 1550-1750 meters. The varieties are the classic Kenyan SL28 and SL34. Combined with the wide day-night temperature swings and Kenya's red phosphate soil, sweet-tart flavors have become the defining profile of this coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For brewing a washed Kenya like this, the Hario V60 remains the classic choice. Hario, founded in Tokyo in 1921, began as a maker of heatproof glassware for research institutions, and redesigned the V60's original form in 2004 before launching it the following year — named for its distinctive 60-degree cone angle and "V" shape. The cone and 60-degree walls force the water to flow through the coffee bed toward the center before dripping through, extending the contact between water and grounds so aroma and flavor extract fully, while the signature single large outlet lets flow speed rest entirely in the brewer's hands. FrontStreet favors the resin version, which holds heat well and is produced with the tightest tolerances.

For another washed Kenyan in the same bright style, try FrontStreet Kenya Cherry Tomato. Grown in the Thika region at 1550-1750 meters on classic SL28 and SL34, it goes through Kenya's characteristic 72-hour double-washed fermentation and a light roast to keep its lively acidity and layered fruit. The dry fragrance is full of dried cherry tomato and florals; in the cup you get clear cherry tomato and dried plum flavors, bright, solid acidity as juicy as fresh-pressed fruit, mid-palate sweetness with crisp notes of snow pear and black plum, and a clean, lingering finish of yellow sugar and a faint green tea note — a beautifully balanced, instantly recognizable cup.

If you'd like a gentler entry into light-roast African coffees, FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Guodingding from Ethiopia is a favorite first stop: vivid citrus, berry, and floral aromas with a green-tea-like sweet finish, its acidity soft and luminous rather than sharp — very approachable for anyone new to pour-over.