Kenya Coffee Bean Growing Regions Introduction African Kenya Coffee Flavor Characteristics and Brewing Recommendations

If you were to find one common coffee bean among the bean lists of any specialty coffee shop, it would undoubtedly be Kenyan coffee beans. At FrontStreet Coffee's specialty shop, there is also a coffee bean from Kenya called Asalia, whose flavor characteristics include the distinctive bright acidity of Kenya, along with tomato and berry-like flavors. Kenyan coffee beans have established their extraordinary position in the specialty coffee world with their rich and splendid flavors. Not only are they familiar to general consumers, but they also frequently achieve cupping scores above 90 points in competitions. However, in the coffee community, have you ever heard of dramatic Kenyan coffee estate stories? The answer is no!

Producers and importers work together to promote production backgrounds and estate stories to consumers. The details from seed to cup highlight the contextual connections of producing regions. The higher the price of the beans, the more they need stories to support them. Consumers love to hear these stories, and suppliers are happy to oblige. But unfortunately, Kenyan coffee estates are not widespread. When you think about it carefully, Kenya, as a major coffee-producing country, can indeed be called "the most familiar stranger!"

Most Kenyan coffee grows at altitudes between 1500-2100 meters, with two harvests per year. To ensure only ripe berries are picked, people must patrol the fields about 7 times back and forth. Kenyan coffee is grown by small farmers who, after harvesting, send fresh coffee beans to cooperative washing stations. The washing stations then send the washed and dried coffee in "parchment coffee" state (coffee beans with the inner skin still attached) to cooperatives. "Parchment coffee" is the final state before coffee beans are peeled. All coffee is collected together, and growers demand average prices based on actual quality. This trading method generally works well and is fair to both growers and consumers.

Kenyan Coffee Regions

NYERI

Located in central Kenya, Nyeri is home to the extinct volcano Mount Kenya. The red soil in this region nurtures Kenya's best coffee. Agriculture is extremely important here, with coffee being the main crop. Cooperative societies composed of small farmers are more common than large estates. This region has two harvest seasons, but coffee from the main season is usually of higher quality.

Altitude: 1200-2300 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian

MURANG'A

This region has about 100,000 coffee farmers. This inland producing area was chosen as a settlement by early missionaries because the Portuguese prohibited them from living in coastal areas. This is another region that benefits from volcanic soil, with more small coffee farmers than estates.

Altitude: 1350-1950 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian

KIRINYAGA

Located east of the Nyeri region, this area also benefits from volcanic soil. Coffee is usually produced by small farmers, and wet mills also produce many high-quality coffees that are well worth trying.

Altitude: 1300-1900 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian

EMBU

This region near Mount Kenya gets its name from Embu town. About 70% of the local population engages in small-scale farming, with tea and coffee being the most popular cash crops. Almost all coffee comes from small farmers, and production in this region is relatively small.

Altitude: 1300 meters

MERU

Most coffee in this region is grown by small farmers on the foothills of Mount Kenya and the Nyambene Hills. The name refers to the magnetic area and the Meru people who live there. In the 1930s, they were among the first Kenyans to start producing coffee, thanks to the Devonshire White Paper signed in 1923, which guaranteed the importance of African rights in Kenya.

Altitude: 1300-1950 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian, K7

KIAMBU

This region in central Kenya has the highest altitude coffee growing areas. However, some coffee trees at high altitudes suffer from dieback disease and stop growing. This region is named after Nakuru town. Coffee cultivation here includes both estates and small farmers, though production is relatively small.

Altitude: 1850-2200 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian

KISII

Located in southwestern Kenya, not far from Lake Victoria, this is a relatively small producing region where most coffee beans come from cooperative societies composed of small producers.

Altitude: 1450-1800 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: SL-28, SL-34, Blue Mountain, K7

TRANS-NZOIA, KEIYO & MARAKWET

This small region in western Kenya has begun to develop in recent years. Mount Elgon provides certain altitude advantages, and most coffee comes from estates. Coffee cultivation is usually intended to diversify farms that originally only had cornfields or dairy products.

Altitude: 1500-1900 meters
Harvest Period: October-December (main season), June-August (secondary season)
Varieties: Ruiru 11, Batian, SL-28, SL-34

Kenyan Coffee Varieties

Common varieties in Kenya include SL28, SL34, French Mission Bourbon, and Ruiru 11. Among these, two varieties particularly attract the attention of specialty coffee professionals: SL-28 and SL-34. These are two of 40 experimental varieties from a research program led by Guy Gibson of Scott Laboratories, though these varieties are susceptible to leaf rust disease. The Bourbon variants (SL-28) and (SL-34) have always been consistent winners in expert cuppings at the Nairobi auction. It is expert consensus that Kenya's berry aroma comes from these two beans—especially (SL-28). But while their flavor is excellent, their yield and disease resistance are not good.

Kenya has spared no effort in developing varieties resistant to leaf rust. Ruiru 11 was the first variety successfully approved by the Kenya Coffee Committee, even though specialty coffee buyers were lukewarm about this variety. In recent years, the Coffee Committee introduced another variety called Batian. Quality seems to have improved, and people are optimistic about its future cupping performance.

Kenyan Coffee Bean Grading

Kenyan coffee beans are strictly graded, mainly based on size, shape, and hardness, from highest to lowest: AA or AA+, AB, PB, C, E, TT, T. Selection can be based on these standards, and flavor is also used as a reference.

Coffee Size Grading

AA Plus (AA+): AA grade with particularly excellent cup quality (flavor, mouthfeel)
AA: Screen size 17-18
AB: Screen size 15-16, accounting for the majority of production
C: Smaller than AB screen size
TT: Lighter weight beans sifted from AA and AB grade beans using air classifiers
T: Lighter weight beans sifted from C grade beans using air classifiers
E: Elephant Bean - large mutation beans where two beans merge, also called Elephant ear
UG: Those that do not meet the above standards
PB: Peaberry, classified by shape, unrelated to flavor or weight

Kenyan Coffee Bean Flavor

Kenya bean flavor characteristics - clean and beautiful acidity! The powerful flavor comes from beautiful, rich acidity. If high-quality acidity is the soul of good coffee, then Kenyan beans are the best representatives of that soul!

Kenya's acidity is bright, vibrant, and full-bodied, making it unforgettable for those who have tasted it. The excellent flavors of Kenyan beans cover almost 29 of the flavors in the "Specialty Coffee Association Flavor Wheel (SCA Flavor Wheel)". Its acidic flavors include blackcurrant, familiar dark plum, lime, grapefruit or pineapple, green apple, passion fruit, and numerous berry flavors; sweet sensations include honey, brown sugar, and sweet fresh orange juice.

The mouthfeel of Kenyan coffee is unique worldwide—because most coffees with bright acidity rarely simultaneously have rich texture or oily sensation, but Kenyan beans possess both rich oily sensation and mouth-coating feel. This is why local quality inspectors select top batches by evaluating three aspects: acidity, body, and flavor, and select batches that can fetch high prices.

Now that you understand the flavor information of Kenyan coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee can help you develop a brewing plan based on the bean characteristics. Kenya's high altitude, volcanic soil, good varieties, and fine processing create full, large beans that are relatively hard and have good appearance. A common problem that occurs during brewing is water flow blockage.

Therefore, for grinding, FrontStreet Coffee does not recommend excessive fine powder. You can choose a quality grinder or use a sifter to remove fine powder. The grind size should be calibrated so that 75% passes through a standard #20 sieve.

FrontStreet Coffee's recommendation for grind size is based on standard sieves - 80% pass rate for light-medium roast, 75% pass rate for medium-dark roast. The reason is that every grinder's installation, use, and maintenance condition differs. Even with the same setting, the resulting powder may be different. Therefore, using standard sieves as a benchmark, or calibrating the grinder with standard sieves before determining the grind size is more accurate.

For water temperature, this Kenyan coffee is suitable for brewing with relatively high temperatures, which can bring out the coffee's fruity sweetness (tomato). FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 93°C water temperature.

FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio. This Kenyan coffee has such a solid mouthfeel that even when brewed to 16 times the water ratio, it doesn't diminish at all. The concentration from 1:16 brewing is very gentle, with bright plum acidity paired with the sweet and sour aroma of tomatoes, making it very comfortable.

FrontStreet Coffee uses a small V60 dripper and recommends using at least 15 grams of coffee powder. If using a large V60 dripper, they recommend using at least 25 grams of coffee powder.

When pouring water, you can raise the coffee bed height and pour with fewer large circles, which can thin the coffee bed thickness and ensure full extraction, avoiding channeling (on the edges) and blockage (at the bottom).

First pour 30ml of water and let it bloom for 30 seconds. For the second pour, add 120ml of water, pouring from the center outward in circles until the surface is completely covered with golden foam, then circle back to the center point, with the coffee bed height reaching 1/2 of the short ribs. For the third pour, add 90ml of water, pouring in coin-sized circles. After all the coffee liquid has dripped into the serving pot, end the extraction. The time should be 2 minutes (with 10 seconds variance). This brewing method highlights the tomato aroma and sweetness of Kenyan coffee while ensuring a solid and bright plum acidity.

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