Starbucks Kenya Coffee Bean Characteristics Story Introduction How to Brew Kenya AA Grade Coffee Beans for Great Taste

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The Captivating Flavor of Kenya Coffee

Coffee lovers experiencing Kenya coffee for the first time will undoubtedly be moved by its distinctive flavor profile. The unique cherry tomato and plum acidity is exceptionally special, with absolutely superior quality. Even Starbucks offers a Kenya coffee variety. So what are the characteristics of Kenya coffee? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explore this topic with everyone.

Starbucks Kenya Coffee Story

Everyone knows that Kenya is located in Africa, and the first impression of Africa is often the vast savannas with many elephants. Therefore, the packaging of Starbucks Kenya coffee features elephants, which are highly representative of Africa. Additionally, Starbucks launched this Kenya coffee back in 1971, and the elephant on its packaging has long become an iconic symbol of Kenya coffee.

Many people also describe the flavor of Kenya coffee beans using African elephants because Kenya coffee beans are characterized by strong and full-bodied acidity, completely different from the citrus and lemon acidity of Ethiopian coffee. This is one of the reasons why Kenya coffee, along with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee, holds the title of African coffee representatives. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share what factors make Kenya coffee flavor so excellent!

Kenya Coffee Growing Conditions

FrontStreet Coffee has frequently mentioned in previous articles that the flavor profile of coffee beans primarily depends on their growing region conditions, coffee bean varieties, and processing methods. The growing region and variety are the innate conditions that determine the flavor presentation of coffee beans, while the processing method is a means to elevate the coffee bean flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee will analyze the formation of Kenya coffee flavor characteristics around these three points.

Kenya is located in eastern Africa, with the equator crossing through its central part and the East African Rift Valley running north-south. It borders Somalia to the east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Ethiopia and Sudan to the north, with the Indian Ocean to the southeast. The country is mostly highland, with an average altitude of 1,500 meters. Mount Kenya (Kirinyaga Peak) in central Kenya reaches 5,199 meters, with snow on its summit, making it the second-highest peak in Africa. The equator runs through Kenya, and the country lies within 10 degrees north and south latitude. It belongs to the tropical growing region, with two rainy seasons annually, allowing for two harvests: 60% concentrated from October to December, and the remaining 40% from June to August.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, most Kenya coffee grows in the fertile, loose, acidic volcanic red soil of the highlands north and east of Nairobi. This area has sufficient sunlight and good drainage, with altitudes between 1,400-2,000 meters. Because higher altitudes create larger temperature differences between day and night, Kenya coffee has a longer maturation period than lower-altitude growing regions, resulting in higher density and more intense flavors.

As FrontStreet Coffee has described, you can see that Kenya's coffee growing regions are indeed very suitable for cultivating coffee beans. With such unique natural conditions, the coffee beans produced are naturally of high quality. Furthermore, Kenya primarily produces Arabica coffee beans, which are considered one of the highest quality coffee varieties in the world. Arabica has a characteristic that the higher the growing altitude, the richer its acidity, which is one of the reasons why Kenya coffee beans have pleasant acidity.

Kenya Coffee Varieties

In Kenya, common varieties include SL28, SL34, Batian, and Ruiru 11. These varieties were all developed by Kenya's own coffee laboratories, demonstrating the Kenyan government's emphasis on coffee cultivation. This is also why Kenya coffee's acidity differs from that of its neighboring countries.

SL28

According to historical records, a senior coffee officer from Scott Laboratories (A.D. Trench) noticed a variety growing in the Modi region of Tanzania that seemed tolerant to drought, diseases, and pests. The seeds were collected and brought back to Scott Laboratories, where their drought resistance was confirmed.

Recent genetic testing has also confirmed that the SL28 variety belongs to the Bourbon genetic group, so SL28 coffee beans appear similar to the round and robust Bourbon variety. Through SL28, FrontStreet Coffee has found that its flavor profile is characterized by complex and varied acidity with excellent sweetness.

SL34

SL34 was first selected from the Kabete Loresho Estate as a "French Mission" (Bourbon variety). However, according to FrontStreet Coffee's research, current genetic testing of this variety has confirmed it has Typica genetic groups, and its plant characteristics are also similar to Typica. Therefore, it is believed that SL34 originated from Typica selection. Because SL34 is close to the Typica variety, the coffee beans are elongated, oval-shaped, and appear relatively flat from the side.

Ruiru 11

Ruiru appeared after SL28 and SL34. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, in the 1970s, the Ruiru station began experimenting with cultivating different CBD and rust-resistant varieties. The result was Ruiru 11, released in the 1980s. With high yield and CBD and rust resistance properties, this seemed to be the solution to all of Kenya's coffee production problems.

Batian

The Batian variety was launched by the Coffee Research Institute (CRI) on September 8, 2010, and is the latest variety offered by Kenya. It was developed as a further experiment based on lessons learned from Ruiru 11. Genetically, it was essentially selected from backcrosses of SL28 and SL34, making it closer to SL28 than Ruiru 11. This eliminated the problematic Robusta coffee bean elements, thereby improving cup quality.

Kenya Coffee Processing - K72 Washed Processing

In addition, Kenya has a unique approach to processing green coffee beans, using the K72 washed processing method developed by the country itself. The processing flow involves washing ripe coffee cherries, then pulping, dry fermenting for 24 hours, washing, dry fermenting again for 24 hours, washing again, and dry fermenting once more for 24 hours. This cycle is repeated to achieve 72 hours of strong fermentation. After washing, the beans are soaked in clean water tanks overnight, and drying work begins in the sun-drying field the next morning. Because the fermentation time lasts 72 hours, it's called K72.

Kenya Coffee Bean Grading System

From FrontStreet Coffee's description above, coffee lovers can see that Kenya takes coffee seriously. Because of this, Kenya also pursues high coffee quality and has implemented a coffee bean grading system. For example, AA grade coffee beans have the highest quality. Although it's called "grading," does AA grade necessarily taste better than AB grade? What standards does this grading system actually use?

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Kenya's coffee bean grading standard is primarily based on size grading. The difference between AA and AB is only in size. As for taste, FrontStreet Coffee has concluded through cupping that both AA and AB grade Kenya coffee beans are very delicious. Flavor differences between regions may primarily come from factors like growing region, altitude, and cultivation conditions. However, AA and AB grade Kenya coffee beans are definitely the most quality-assured coffees.

As described above, these gradings are merely distinctions in bean size. The most famous coffee processing method for Kenya coffee beans is undoubtedly the K72 washed processing method. Therefore, Kenya's highest quality coffee beans are mainly washed. Washed processed coffee is generally divided into eight grades:

E: Elephant Bean, also called elephant ear, flat beans larger than 19 screen size.

AA: Bean size 17 to 18 screen

AB: Bean size 15 to 16 screen, accounting for the majority of production

TT: Lighter-weight beans blown out from AA and AB grade beans using air screeners

C: Beans smaller than AB screen size / below 14 screen, too small to be classified as specialty grade due to size.

T: Lighter-weight beans blown out from C grade beans (below 14 screen) using air screeners, meaning both size and density are too small to be classified as specialty grade.

PB: Peaberry, meaning round beans, classified by shape rather than size, unrelated to flavor or weight, accounting for about 10% of total production

UG: Those that do not meet the above standards

There are also lower-quality natural coffee bean grades that are not subjected to Kenyan-style washed processing due to poor quality and are generally used for the domestic Kenyan market. These beans are graded as M'buni. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee wants to emphasize that this "green bean grading system" still in use today was established by government agencies in 1938, even 40 years before the birth of the "specialty coffee" concept. Therefore, Kenya now has new coffee bean grading concepts, but the size-based grading standard is still more common today.

Here are Kenya's current new coffee grading standards:

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, the Kenya Coffee Research Foundation and local industry commonly use a set of coffee bean quality grading procedures developed by the Kenya Coffee Research Foundation when assessing coffee quality. The grading is comprehensive based on three aspects: green bean quality, roasted bean quality, and cupping quality.

Green Bean Quality: Subdivided into green bean appearance and size, green bean color, and defects.

Roasted Bean Quality: Subdivided into central crack condition, roasted bean condition, and defective beans.

Cupping Quality: Scored based on acidity, body/texture, flavor, and negative defects.

Combining the scores from these three aspects, coffee beans are classified into grades 1 to 10, with grade 1 being the best and grade 10 being the worst.

As can be seen from the above, the difference between AA grade coffee beans and AB grade or PB grade coffee beans is only in size. However, generally speaking, larger screen size coffee beans have lower defect rates, so the flavors are naturally cleaner, and naturally the prices are also higher.

The above is the relevant information about Kenya coffee beans compiled by FrontStreet Coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee has also introduced Kenya AA grade coffee beans and PB grade coffee beans. Now let me share them with everyone!

FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Asalia Coffee Beans

Country: Kenya

Region: Asali (Honey Processing Station)

Altitude: 1550-1750m

Varieties: SL28, SL34

Processing: 72-hour washed processing

Flavor: Snow pear, plum, brown sugar, cherry tomato, prune

FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Thathini Estate PB Coffee Beans

Country: Kenya

Region: Thathini Estate

Altitude: 1680m

Varieties: SL28, SL24, Ruiru

Processing: 72-hour washed processing

Flavor: Cherry tomato, almond, plum, honey, grape

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Parameters Sharing

Kenya Asalia Coffee Beans:

This coffee bean is full and round. To fully express its bright, full-bodied acidity, FrontStreet Coffee uses a light roast level.

Yangjia 800N semi-direct fire, 480g bean input: Heat the roaster to 160°C and add beans, open damper to 3, flame at 120. Return point: 1'28". When temperature rises to 130°C, open damper to 4. Roast to 6'00", temperature 154.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete. When ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and toast smell clearly changes to coffee aroma, this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'28" first crack begins, damper unchanged, first crack development time 2'20", drop at 193.8°C.

Kenya Thathini PB Coffee Beans:

This dense coffee bean has higher altitude and harder bean texture. Start with a higher temperature rise, with yellowing point around 5 minutes, then reduce flame to enter Maillard reaction, reduce flame again at 166°C to extend Maillard reaction time. When first crack begins, heat absorption is strong, so it's recommended to maintain heat at this stage to prevent stalling. First crack development takes more time, which helps reduce acidity and develop flavor.

Yangjia 800N roaster (300g batch size), heat to 170°C and add beans, flame at 100, open damper to 3; return point 1'42", when roaster temperature reaches 140°C, open damper to 3.5, flame unchanged; when temperature reaches 149°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, enter dehydration stage; at 7'14" dehydration complete, flame and damper unchanged; at 7'30" bean surface shows wrinkles and black spots, toast smell changes to coffee aroma, prelude to first crack, pay attention to listen for first crack sound. At 8'20" first crack begins, open damper to 4, reduce flame to 50. Post-first crack development time 1'50", reduce flame to 30 at 188°C, level temperature rise, drop at 193.3°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Suggestions

Filter: V60 or cake cup

Water temperature: 91-92°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Fine grind (Chinese standard #20 sieve, 80% pass rate)

Brewing method: Segmented extraction. Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then pour with small circular motion to 124g for segmentation. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop. Wait for water level to drop and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from bloom) Extraction time: 1'55".

Asalia Coffee Bean Flavor: Wet aroma has mature tomato and floral notes. Entry reveals cherry tomato and plum flavors, with bright acidity, clean and rich mouthfeel. Prominent sweetness in the middle section with juice-like sensation. Finish has berry aroma and brown sugar sweetness, with green tea fragrance.

Thathini Coffee Bean Flavor: Aroma has floral notes. Entry reveals cherry tomato, citrus, and nut acidity. Middle section has creamy fragrance with brown sugar aftertaste. Finish has cocoa and oolong tea sensations. Rich flavor layers with obvious floral notes.

The above are the flavor characteristics of these two coffee beans at FrontStreet Coffee. We hope this helps everyone gain a deeper understanding of Kenya coffee knowledge, so you can avoid pitfalls when selecting coffee beans from different growing regions in the future.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473