What are the best Kenyan coffee brands, how to brew Kenyan coffee, and how much do Kenyan coffee beans cost

Kenya Coffee Bean - Kamoini Refined 72-Hour Washed

Country: Kenya

Region: Kirinyaga

Altitude: 1700~1800 meters

Soil: Volcanic soil

Varieties: SL-28, SL-34

Processing: 72-hour washed

01 | Processing Factory Introduction

The Kiangombe factory is located 2 kilometers from the town of Kimunye in Kirinyaga. It was named by the Kikuyu people, Kenya's largest ethnic minority group, because there was once a large cattle market in this village.

The Kiangombe factory was built in 1998 and belongs to the Karabe Cooperative Society. The entire cooperative has over 6,000 members, with more than 600 small farmers registered at the Kiangombe factory.

The water for washing at the Kiangombe factory comes from the Mukengeria River, and the beans are dried on raised beds for about 20 days depending on weather conditions.

02 | Kenya Coffee Bean Growing Region Introduction

Kirinyaga

The Kirinyaga region is situated on the slopes of Mount Kenya, near Nyeri. It is renowned for coffee with intense flavors, rich layers, and solid mouthfeel, and is recognized alongside Nyeri as the two best coffee growing regions in Kenya. Most producers in this area are small coffee farmers who belong to cooperatives. The cooperatives play a unifying role by providing washing stations, where farmers send their coffee cherries for processing.

"Kirinyaga" is the name of the highest peak of Mount Kenya - Kenya's highest and Africa's second-highest mountain, as well as the local name for Mount Kenya itself.

The reason Europeans called it "Mount Kenya" is said to be their inability to properly imitate the local pronunciation of "kirinyaga."

Kirinyaga comes from the Kikuyu tribe and means "white mountain," considered the dwelling place of the supreme deity. The Kikuyu are Kenya's most populous ethnic group, accounting for one-fifth of the total population.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

SL-28 and SL-34 are two of the most esteemed varieties developed by Kenya's Scott Laboratories in the 1930s. Although Scott Laboratories no longer exists, it is now the National Agricultural Laboratories, part of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization. Both varieties are Bourbon derivatives, though from different lineages: SL-28 was developed from drought-resistant varieties originally planted in Tanganyika (part of modern Tanzania) and is generally considered the highest quality but not high-yielding compared to other commercial Arabica varieties. SL-34 is a variant originally discovered near Kabete that performs well at lower altitudes. Both SL varieties exhibit bronze-colored young leaves.

04 | Kenya Coffee Bean Processing Method Introduction

The Kenyan washed processing method involves repeated cycles of fermentation followed by washing. The highest quality coffee cherries are selected on the day of harvest for pulping and fermentation, which lasts 24 hours. After 24 hours, they are washed with clean river water. Then, they undergo another 24-hour fermentation in clean river water, followed by washing again. This process is repeated 3 times, totaling 72 hours, hence the name Kenyan 72-hour fermented washed processing method, abbreviated as K72. This processing method allows coffee beans to ferment for a long time at low temperatures, resulting in brighter, cleaner, yet fuller flavors!

05 | Kenya Coffee Bean Roasting Analysis

This rich Kenyan coffee bean, due to its high altitude, has relatively hard beans. Start with a high temperature rise, with the yellowing point at around 5 minutes, then reduce heat to enter the Maillard reaction. When reaching 168°C, reduce heat again to prolong the Maillard reaction time. When the first crack begins, the endothermic reaction is strong, so it's recommended to maintain heat at this stage to prevent stalling. Spending more time on first crack development helps reduce acidity and develop flavors.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct flame

Preheat the roaster to 200°C before loading, with damper set to 3. Ignite after 30 seconds, adjust heat to 140, keep damper unchanged. Return temperature point at 1'28", maintain heat, yellowing at 4'50", grassy aroma disappears, enter dehydration stage, reduce heat to 110, open damper to 4.

At 7' dehydration complete, heat reduced to 80, at 7'30 wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma turns to coffee aroma, prelude to first crack, pay attention to the sound of first crack. First crack starts at 8'10", damper fully opened to 5. Post-first crack development time is 2 minutes, when reaching 188°C reduce heat to 50, flatten temperature rise, unload at 193°C.

This is a classic Kenyan coffee bean with mature tomato and floral notes in the wet aroma. Cherry tomato and apricot flavors enter the palate, with bright acidity and clean mouthfeel. Medium body with prominent almond notes in the mid-section, juicy texture, berry fruit and caramel sweetness in the aftertaste, with [orange aroma].

06 | Kenya Coffee Bean Brewing Data

Dripper: V60

Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Small Fuji 3.5

Water temperature: 91°C

Brewing method:

Use 30g water to bloom for 30s, slowly pour with small water flow to 120g for segmentation, then slightly increase water flow to slowly brew to 225g.

Total time: 2'15"

Sweetness: ☆☆

Acidity: ☆☆

Bitterness: ☆

Body: ☆☆

Aftertaste: ☆☆

Other drip brewing recommendations:

French press: recommended grind size 3.5-4 / water temperature 90°C

AeroPress: recommended grind size 2.5, water temperature 88°C

Kenya Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Kenya coffee beans offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide exceptional value for money - a 227-gram box costs only 95 yuan. Calculating at 15g per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 yuan. Compared to café prices that often run dozens of yuan per cup, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473