Kenya AB Coffee Beans K72 Washed Flavor Characteristics Detailed Explanation of Kenyan Coffee Bean Growing Regions Varieties and Grades

Although FrontStreet Coffee currently has only one Kenyan coffee bean on its menu, FrontStreet Coffee was once a major player in Kenyan coffee. If you're a long-time fan of FrontStreet Coffee, you must have tried FrontStreet Coffee's Kenyan AB Little Cranberry. You should know that AB grade is the second-highest quality grade of Kenyan coffee beans after AA grade. This Little Cranberry has very aromatic, juice-like acidity, with particularly noticeable berry aromatics at high temperatures, delivering a full, sweet berry flavor upon entry. At lower temperatures, the acidity becomes more concentrated and is accompanied by a creamy texture. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will provide specific information about the Kenyan AB coffee:

FrontStreet Coffee: Kenya AB Komatina Little Cranberry

Region: Kiambu

Micro-region: Gitwe

Soil: Volcanic clay

Altitude: 1400-1800 meters

Varieties: L-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11

Processing: Kenyan 72-hour washed

Why Kenyan Coffee Tastes So Good

FrontStreet Coffee believes that many factors contribute to the excellent taste of Kenyan coffee, such as altitude, growing environment, processing methods, etc. However, regarding this Little Cranberry coffee, FrontStreet Coffee first wants to highlight its processing method: the K72 processing method. The Little Cranberry coffee processed using the K72 method has different flavors compared to typical washed Kenyan coffee. The K72 processing method involves additional fermentation on top of the original washing process, so the Little Cranberry coffee has a brighter texture and particularly outstanding acidity. FrontStreet Coffee will provide detailed information about the specific steps of the K72 processing method in the latter part of this article, but let's start gradually from the growing region.

01 | Introduction to Kenyan Coffee Regions

Friends with some geographical knowledge should know that Kenya is located in eastern Africa, neighboring Ethiopia. What you might not know is that although Kenya has a similar coffee growing environment to Ethiopia, known as the "source of coffee," Kenyan coffee started very late. According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Kenya first planted coffee in 1893 when Bourbon was introduced from Brazil (also known as French Mission, to commemorate the French missionaries who introduced it). Like the story of "turn left, turn right," coffee didn't move south inland but crossed the Red Sea northward. After hundreds of years of diffusion, settling and mutating in various parts of the world, it finally returned to its homeland: the Great Rift Valley.

Kenya is currently one of the major coffee-producing countries, with about six million people nationwide engaged in the coffee industry, mostly in the form of small farmers, wet processing mills, and cooperatives. Kenyan coffee is primarily washed-processed, with coffee trees mostly grown in mountainous areas at altitudes of 1400-2000 meters. The main growing regions include Ruiri, Thika, Kirinyaga, Mt. Kenya West, Nyeri, Kiambu, and Muranga. Most of Kenya's famous growing regions are concentrated in the central part, such as Nyeri, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, and the western mountainous areas near Uganda (Nakuru, Bungoma, Kitale, etc.).

02 | Kenyan Coffee Cultivation

Coffee farms are mostly small-scale operations producing several hundred kilograms annually. They decide to sell their fruits to nearby processing factories (Coffee Factories) based on transportation distance and purchase prices. Farmers own very small plots of land, often measured by the total number of trees on a piece of land, which means producers often have more autonomy in strategically harvesting coffee cherries and can deliver the most mature coffee cherries to local factories (washing stations). The factories generally have abundant water resources for fine washed processing, including soaking coffee beans in fresh water for extended periods to consolidate the unique Kenyan flavor characteristics.

03 | Kenyan Coffee Varieties

Kenya's main varieties are SL28 and SL34, which were cultivated and named by the "Scott Laboratories" laboratory in 1930. The Kenya Assalia coffee beans currently available at FrontStreet Coffee are of the SL28 and SL34 varieties. According to SL laboratory botanists, SL28 and SL34 are genetic variants. Among them, SL28 has mixed ancestry of French Mission, Mocha, and Yemen Typica. The original goal of cultivating SL28 was to mass-produce coffee beans that were both high-quality and resistant to diseases and pests. Although SL28's yield was later not as large as expected, its copper-colored leaves and broad bean-shaped beans have wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex flavors, with notable citrus and plum characteristics. SL34 has flavors similar to SL28; besides complex acidity and wonderful sweet finish, it has a heavier, richer, and cleaner texture than SL28. SL34 has French Mission, Bourbon, and more Typica ancestry. The bean appearance is similar to SL28, but it can better adapt to sudden heavy rain. It is these two important varieties that have led us to understand unique Kenyan coffee beans. Current popular varieties in Kenya also include Ruiri 11, which has high disease resistance but slightly inferior taste, Batian with high drought resistance, and K7 and Kent.

FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya AB Komatina Little Cranberry is made from SL-28, SL-34, and Ruiru 11 varieties. It has classic Kenyan coffee characteristics: wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex flavors, with notable citrus and plum characteristics.

04 | Processing Method: Kenyan 72-Hour Washed Method

FrontStreet Coffee believes that Kenyan coffee is famous for its rich layering and clean texture. The reason why Kenyan coffee is so acidic is its special K72 processing method. The process of two washed fermentation steps, commonly known as "double fermentation," is a quite complex but delicate raw bean processing method; this method is more time-consuming and water-intensive than regular washing, which is why Kenyan coffee is more expensive, but it is also an indispensable technique for creating Kenyan coffee's unique acidic aroma and clean texture. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will explain the processing method in detail.

First Wash and Fermentation

After the coffee cherries are harvested, they first undergo water density sorting; the principle is to use the density and quality differences of the coffee fruits themselves for sorting; high-density (heavy-weight) coffee beans will sink in water, while low-density coffee beans will float. Fully ripe, high-quality coffee fruits have high density, and they are selected for further processing. After selecting high-quality and sufficiently ripe fruits, the skin is removed, and the beans are soaked in water for washing, allowing the mucilage attached to the outer layer of the raw beans to ferment. The mucilage contains natural sugars and alcohols, which play a crucial role in developing coffee's sweetness, acidity, and overall flavor. The fermentation time lasts up to 24 hours, after which most of the mucilage is removed, leaving only the flavor within the coffee beans.

Second Wash and Fermentation

Next, the coffee beans enter the second wash and fermentation process. After the coffee beans from the previous stage are cleaned, they are soaked again in water for 12-24 hours. This process increases proteins and amino acids, creating complex and delicate layered textures in the coffee's acidity. Finally, all remaining mucilage is removed, and the coffee beans are moved to raised racks for sun drying. The drying time depends on weather conditions and generally takes about 5-10 days to complete.

05 | FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya AB Komatina Little Cranberry Raw Bean and Roasting Analysis

The beans of this coffee are relatively small with medium density and naturally low moisture content. The roasting goal is light-medium roast. Unlike other light-roasted Kenyan coffees, this Little Cranberry uses a light-medium roast to reduce the intensity of acidity, which can enhance texture and balance, making the overall performance sweeter and juicier. In the first batch of roasting, the drop temperature was relatively high, with an inlet temperature of 200 degrees and relatively high heat. During the roasting process, it was found that the altitude of these beans is relatively not high, and the bean texture is slightly soft, so a gradual heat reduction and stable rising roasting method was adopted. The heat was adjusted down when the beans entered the yellowing point, when dehydration was complete, and before first crack, to avoid surface scorching, and the first crack time was slightly extended to increase caramelization time, enhancing flavor texture and balance.

Yangjia 600g Semi-direct Fire Roasting Machine

Heat the roaster to 200°C, air vent at 3. After 30 seconds, adjust heat to 150°C, air vent unchanged. Maintain heat at the return temperature point at 1'38". At 5'16", the bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. Heat reduced to 120°C, air vent adjusted to 4. Dehydration completed at 7'05", heat reduced to 80°C. At 8'00", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'28", reduce heat to 50°C, air vent fully open to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so low that there's no crack sound). Develop for 2'00" after first crack, drop at 193°C.

06 | Kenyan Coffee Grades

Many people are puzzled by letters like AA, PB in Kenyan coffee names, which are actually grades of Kenyan coffee. Kenya controls coffee quality quite strictly, classified by size, shape, and form into AA, AB, C, E, PB, TT, T, ML, MH. This grading is mainly to distinguish bean shape and size, but many people believe that larger beans contain more oils that produce coffee aroma, and for this reason, larger beans are more expensive in the market. AA size is 17 and 18 mesh, AB is 15 and 16 mesh. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's Little Cranberry coffee as an example, it is an AB grade coffee bean, which clearly has a certain size difference from AA grade coffee beans. Within the same grade level, the highest grade is estate beans, followed by "+", then the general AA and AB grades. Grade C consists of smaller beans, Grade E is extra-large (elephant beans). The subsequent TT, T, ML, MH are inferior grades only seen locally.

As for quality distinction, Kenya uses a numerical grading system to distinguish coffee quality, but this numerical grading system hasn't been widely promoted, so fewer people know about it. Therefore, grading still prioritizes larger particle size, while PB grade with different shapes is approximately equivalent to AA, but if it's estate grade or + grade, it advances two or one level respectively in the grading. For example, AB estate beans are approximately equivalent to AA+ and PB+. Flavor grades are sequentially TOP, PLUS, FAQ. FAQ "Fair to Average Quality" may have some slight defective beans, but they don't affect the flavor.

Many friends have reported to FrontStreet Coffee that Kenyan coffee generally turns out quite acidic when brewed, so how should acidic Kenyan coffee beans be brewed? FrontStreet Coffee provides the brewing parameters used in its stores:

V60 Dripper

Water Temperature: 91°C

Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

Coffee Amount: 15g

Grind Size: (China No. 20 standard sieve 80% pass rate)

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Method: Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a small circular motion to 125g and pause. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup (timing starts from the bloom). Extraction time is 2'00".

This brewing method produces Kenyan coffee with a relatively balanced texture, with obvious yet soft sweet and sour notes, carrying rich citrus, grapefruit, and berry flavors. If you have mastered the three-stage extraction method and understand how to adjust the coffee's texture, you can change parameters in subsequent brewing to find the extraction method that suits you best.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473