What Are the Flavor Notes of Starbucks Kenya Coffee Beans and How to Properly Brew Kenyan Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee - Kenya Coffee Flavor Comparison

Since Kenyan coffee first reached the market in 1971, it has kept surprising professional tasters and customers alike with a very distinctive profile: bright, juice-like acidity, a soft wine-like body, and vivid fruit flavors. Those qualities only grow more pronounced as the cup cools.

Kenyan coffee also makes exceptionally good iced coffee.

Tasting Notes

Juicy and full in the mouth, with signature grapefruit and black currant notes. This is the combination that sets Kenyan coffee apart from beans grown elsewhere.

Kenya Gaturi

This lot delivers a refreshing fruit acidity, accompanied by grapefruit and black currant, with a light caramel finish.

Brewing Comparison with FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 / 1:16

Grind size: Medium-fine (BG 7T: 58% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Brewing technique: Multi-stage extraction

Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water flow, pour in circles to 124g, then pause. When the water level drops to just above the coffee bed, continue pouring to 227g and stop. When the water level drops to just above the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the bloom.) Total extraction time: 2'00".

Flavor Profiles

Kenya Blackberry Muse: herbs, preserved plum, cherry tomato, cream, and blueberry, with a honey-like aftertaste.

Kenya Thimani Girl: berries, nuts, preserved plum, and cream, with woody notes and a subtle tomato finish.

Kenya Komatina: prominent tomato and preserved plum acidity, with plum, honey, and cream, finishing on a sugarcane aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a Kenya that shows the region's savory-sweet side, FrontStreet Kenya Small Tomato is an excellent place to start. Grown at 1,550-1,750 meters in the Thika region from SL28 and SL34, it is processed with the classic Kenyan 72-hour double washed fermentation and roasted light to protect its lively acidity. The dry aroma already carries cherry tomato and florals; in the cup you get clear cherry tomato and dark plum, a bright, dense juice-like acidity, then pear and black plum through the middle, and a clean, lingering finish of yellow sugar and faint green tea.

If you prefer a more floral, tea-like profile, FrontStreet Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gedingding is a fine counterpoint, with citrus, berry, and jasmine notes over a green-tea finish.

Brew either one as a pour-over using the V60 parameters above, and drink it while it is still warm and aromatic for the most vivid fruit.