Kenya AA Coffee Brands and Brewing Guide

Pour-over Brewing Guide

15 g of coffee grounds, medium-fine grind (setting 3.5 on a Fuji ghost-teeth grinder), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. First pour: 30 g of water for a 27-second bloom. Continue pouring to 105 g, then pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops halfway, then continue pouring slowly until you reach 225 g in total. Discard the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15. Total extraction time: 2:00.

Flavor Profile

Intense dry and wet aromas of lemon and plum. Light-roasted and cupped, it reveals astonishing floral and lemon notes, along with the sweet-tart juiciness of grapefruit green tea and citrus juice. With a slightly darker roast, it develops flavors of honey and raspberry-black plum, and the aftertaste carries the pleasant sweet-tart notes of green tea.

Origin and Processing

This Kenya comes from the Kongyu processing station in the Kirinyaga region, part of the Kabare Farmers' Cooperative Society. It undergoes the Kenyan double-washed processing method. Grown on the eastern slopes of the Kenya Mountains in Muranga-Embu County at altitudes of 1550-1750 meters, the variety consists of the classic Kenyan SL28 and SL34. Combined with large day-night temperature swings and Kenya's red phosphoric soil, the sweet-tart profile becomes the primary flavor characteristic of this Kenyan coffee.

The fresh cherries for this batch of Kongyu AA were picked and processed by 250 farmers from the Kongyu processing station under the Kabare Farmers' Cooperative Society. After being pulped, fermented, and washed using water from the nearby Kongyu River, the coffee is dried on African raised beds. Each harvest season the farmers process nearly 300 tons of fresh coffee cherries. After processing, the coffee enters the weekly auctions held every Wednesday in Nairobi. Once selected by licensed exporters, it is shipped to consumer markets worldwide.

With previous Kenyan coffees, we particularly enjoyed pursuing those angular, powerful fruit acids. This Kenyan coffee, by contrast, felt gentle, like facing the sea with a soft breeze blowing.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Shelf life: 90 days
Net weight: 227 g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast level: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar content: Sugar-free
Origin: Kenya
Coffee type: Other
Roast degree: Light roast

Coffee Details

Country: Kenya
Grade: AA
Region: Kirinyaga region
Altitude: 1550-1750 meters
Soil: Red phosphoric soil
Processing method: Kenyan double-washed processing method
Variety: SL 28, SL 34
Processing station: Kongyu Processing Station
Producer: Kabare Farmers' Cooperative Society
Flavor notes: Grapefruit green tea, citrus, raspberry-black plum

Kenya Coffee Overview

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

Kenya's coffee trees are mostly grown at altitudes of 1400-2000 meters. Growing regions include Ruiri, Thika, Kirinyaga, Mt. Kenya West, Nyeri, Kiambu, and Muranga, primarily on the foothills of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare range.

Many regions in Kenya work to preserve native forest ecosystems, protect natural gene banks, support the reproduction of wild coffee varieties, and nurture diverse coffee trees.

In 1930, Kenya's unique varieties SL28 and SL34, cultivated and named by the Scott Laboratories, were born in this favorable environment.

According to the SL laboratory botanists, SL28 and SL34 are genetic variants. SL28 has mixed lineage from French Mission, Mocha, and Yemen Typica. The original goal of cultivating SL28 was to mass-produce coffee beans combining high quality with resistance to pests and diseases.

Although SL28's later yield was not as high as expected, its copper-colored leaves and broad bean shape deliver wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex, varied flavors, along with significant citrus and black plum characteristics. SL34 has similar flavors to SL28, but besides its complex acidity and wonderful sweet finish, its body is heavier, richer, and cleaner than SL28. SL34 has French Mission, Bourbon, and more Typica lineage. Its bean appearance is similar to SL28, but it adapts better to sudden heavy rain. These two important varieties are what taught the world the unique Kenyan style: intense, rich fruit acidity, a rich body, and beautiful balance.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy the bright, structured acidity of Kenyan coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Cherry Tomato is a standout. It comes from Kenya's Thika region, grown at 1550-1750 meters with the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties, whose full, round beans reflect the red soil and high altitude of the area.

Processing follows Kenya's signature 72-hour double wash, which pushes the fruit aroma to the fore while keeping the cup clean and pure. FrontStreet roasts it light to preserve as much lively acidity and layered fruit as possible. The dry aroma already shows dense cherry-tomato and floral notes; the cup opens with clear cherry tomato and smoked plum, a bright, solid acidity as full as freshly squeezed juice, and a pronounced mid-palate sweetness threaded with pear and black plum. The finish is clean and long, with brown-sugar sweetness and a faint green-tea note.

The balance of sweet and tart makes it highly recognizable, and it rewards the same pour-over approach FrontStreet uses for its Kenyan lots: a V60 at 91-93°C, 15 g of coffee, a medium-fine grind, and a 1:15 ratio, poured in stages with a 30 g bloom to start and a total extraction time of about 2:00.