African Coffee: How is Kenya Thisini AB TOP Coffee? Kenya Thisini AB T

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

Kenya produces a fraction of the world's coffee, yet its best lots command prices and loyalty that far exceed its volume. This is what makes a Kenyan coffee like the Sasin AB TOP worth understanding.

Kenya Coffee Overview

Kenya sits south of Ethiopia and Yemen, only a few hundred kilometers from those two storied producing nations. Its own coffee history is far shorter, however. Coffee did not reach Kenya until the late 19th century, brought by missionaries, after which German and British colonists expanded the farms.

Kenya's coffee trees grow in the mountainous regions north and west of the capital, Nairobi. There are two main production areas: one runs from the southern slope of Kenya's high point, Mount Kirinyaga, and continues southward, forming the country's largest producing region, and a smaller second area lies on the eastern slope of Mount Elgon, on the border between Uganda and Kenya.

Kenya's highlands are rich in red volcanic soil, and coffee is cultivated there at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,100 meters. Farms are very small, with some plots covering less than one acre. Kenyan coffee flowers twice a year, in March and April after the rains and again in October and November, and all of it is hand-picked. The country grows Arabica Bourbon trees, which offer a distinctive wine-like flavor and a long aftertaste, with a richness and smoothness that Ethiopian and Yemeni coffees do not quite share.

All Kenyan coffee is purchased centrally by the Kenya Coffee Board and classified by bean size, weight, and shape. The grades are AA++, AA+, AA, and AB. Kenya's main customers are Germany and a handful of especially discerning Nordic countries. Kenya AA is the highest grade, with a rich flavor and a strong wine aroma, and its acidity is very subtle, requiring careful tasting to appreciate fully.

FrontStreet Coffee Africa Kenya Sasin AB TOP Introduction

Estate Name: Kiambu Sasin

Coffee Varieties: SL28, SL34

Altitude: 1,700m

Harvesting Method: Hand-picked, twice hand-selected

Flavor Notes: Berry, apple, oolong tea

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Kenya's bright berry acidity and tea-like finish have a close cousin just across the border, and anyone who enjoys the Sasin AB TOP will find a great deal to like in Ethiopia, where FrontStreet Coffee keeps the full range in the daily lineup. The FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe is the classic entry, known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a clean tea-like body, and its accessible price makes it the easiest way to compare East African acidity side by side.

A step further up, the FrontStreet Washed Gedeb Cooperative lot from the Worka area sits at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe and follows the most traditional washed method, delivering fresh citrus and lemon acidity and floral jasmine with no harsh bitterness. For a fruitier counterpart, the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry uses only fully ripe, healthy cherries, sorted at the mill and dried on raised beds for three to five weeks with regular turning in the first days, so the cup keeps the classic Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit, berry-juice body, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy texture. The FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui from the Hambella area of Guji takes the natural route too, with whole cherries dried on raised beds for 21 days and hand-sorted every few days, yielding a light fermented wine aroma, florals, citrus, and mango against a thick body and a long finish. For something more unusual, the FrontStreet Sidamo Natural Hamasho comes from a processing station known for JARC 74-series disease-resistant varieties, and its 74158 selection offers a perfume-lemon, strawberry, and star-fruit sweetness with florals rising underneath. Whichever you choose, brew it as a pour-over and let it cool; the berry acidity that defines Kenyan coffee is best appreciated as the cup moves from hot to warm.