A Guide to Brewing Parameters for African Kenyan Coffee Beans: How to Brew Kenyan AA for Enhanced Sweetness

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FrontStreet Coffee Introduction - Kenyan Coffee

It was back in the 1930s when the Kenyan government commissioned Scott Labs to select suitable varieties for the country. After逐一编号筛选 and filtering, they finally obtained SL-28 and SL-34. Both originated from Bourbon, with SL-34 being able to grow in slightly lower altitude areas.

SL28 possesses a mixed lineage of French Mission, Mocha, and Yemen Typica. The original goal of cultivating SL28 was to mass-produce coffee beans that combined high quality with resistance to diseases and pests.

Although the yield of SL28 later turned out to be not as massive as expected, its copper-colored leaves and broad bean-shaped beans have wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex and varied flavors, as well as prominent citrus and plum characteristics.

SL34 is similar to SL28 in flavor. Besides its complex and varied acidity and wonderful sweet finish, it has a heavier and richer body than SL28, and is cleaner. SL34 has French Mission, Bourbon, and more Typica lineage. Its bean appearance is similar to SL28, but it's more adaptable to sudden heavy rains.

It was later proven that the former received quite high evaluations, typically possessing blackcurrant-like acidity and complex flavor manifestations; while the latter was slightly inferior, it still had impressive fruit flavors. These two varieties currently account for 90% of Kenya's production, becoming generally recognized representatives of Kenyan coffee.

French missionaries brought Bourbon trees to Kenya around 1892-1893 AD. This original Bourbon tree variety is called French Mission Varietal, which avoided scientific improvements during cultivation and preserved the most original flavors of Bourbon.

Ruiru 11

In 1985, Kenya developed a hybrid variety that focused on quantity over quality. It's a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta beans, and to date, it hasn't been considered specialty coffee. Therefore, many suppliers specializing in fresh-roasted specialty coffee, such as fresh, do not carry these types. However, many suppliers that import famous coffee beans sometimes mix this hybrid bean into blends to reduce costs. From the above gene mutant varieties (whether natural or research products), their flavors have a great relationship with specific regional conditions.

Brewing Method

Because the V60 dripper's ribs are distributed in a curved pattern from top to bottom and vary in length, during brewing, air release is smoother and the flow rate is also faster. Because of this, the extracted coffee flavor layers will be more obvious. In terms of brewing technique, I will use segmented extraction to increase the extraction rate of the beans.

Parameters & Technique

Water temperature: 90°C; medium-fine grind (BG 5R: China standard #20 sieve pass rate 58%); powder-to-water ratio 1:15.

15g powder, bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds. When injecting water to 127g, perform segmentation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue injecting water until 230g, then stop the water flow. (Timer starts from bloom) Extraction time is 1'52".

Flavor Profile

It has plum acidity, lime, cherry tomato, and berry notes. In the middle section, there are flavors of spices, cream, and cocoa, with brown sugar sweetness and a juice-like feeling. The overall flavor layering is quite obvious.

Kenya Asali

Region: Thika, Kenya

Processing Station: Asali Honey Processing Station

Altitude: 1550-1750 meters

Grade: AA TOP

Variety: SL-28, SL-34

Processing Method: Kenya 72-hour washed

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