Sharing the Story of Kenyan Coffee - Pour Over Brewing Method and Parameters

FrontStreet Coffee - Kenya Coffee Story and Asali Pour-over Brewing Guide

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If you've seen the Hollywood movie "Out of Africa," you must be familiar with the story of Kenyan coffee. Kenya's coffee industry contributes approximately 0.2% of the national GDP and accounts for about 8% of total agricultural export income. Kenya exports over 90% of its coffee production. During the 1987-88 season, production reached a record 127,000 tons, while the 2016/18 season only saw 47,000 tons, merely 0.5% of global coffee production. Smallholder farmers account for 60% of national coffee production, but with middlemen's interests eroding their profits, many coffee farmers receive only 20% of the coffee export price. The scarcer it becomes, the more precious it grows.

Due to low income from coffee cultivation, many coffee farmers have begun switching to other cash crops. Kenyan coffee is grown by smallholder farmers who, after harvesting, first send fresh coffee cherries to cooperative washing stations. The washing stations then wash and dry the coffee, delivering it in "parchment coffee" state (coffee beans covered with the inner parchment skin) to cooperatives. "Parchment coffee" is the final state before coffee beans are hulled. All coffee is collected together, and growers are paid an average price based on their actual quality.

The Kenyan government takes the coffee industry extremely seriously—here, cutting down or destroying coffee trees is illegal. Buyers of Kenyan coffee are all world-class premium coffee purchasers, and no other country continuously cultivates, produces, and sells coffee like Kenya does. All coffee beans are first purchased by the Coffee Board of Kenya (CBK), where they are inspected and graded, then sold at weekly auctions without further grading during the auction process.

The Coffee Board of Kenya only acts as an agent, collecting coffee samples and distributing them to buyers so they can determine price and quality. The Nairobi auction is held for private exporters, and the Coffee Board of Kenya pays growers below-market prices.

Because the V60 dripper's ribs are distributed in curved patterns from top to bottom with varying lengths, air exhaust is relatively smooth during brewing and the flow rate is quite fast. For this reason, the extracted coffee flavors tend to have more distinct layers. In terms of brewing technique, FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction to increase the extraction rate of the beans.

Parameters & Technique

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

15g coffee grounds, bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds. When pouring to 127g, segment the extraction. Wait until the water level drops to just before the coffee bed is exposed, then continue pouring to 230g before cutting off the water. (Timing starts from the beginning of blooming) Total extraction time: 1'52"

Flavor Profile

Features black plum acidity, lime, cherry tomatoes, and berry notes. The mid-section reveals spice, cream, and cocoa flavors with brown sugar sweetness and a juicy mouthfeel. Overall, the flavor layers are quite distinct.

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473