African Coffee Growing Regions: Kenya Coffee Bean Varieties with Refreshing Natural Berry Flavors and Rich Acidity

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FrontStreet Coffee - Kenya Coffee Introduction

For most people, coffee has bitterness, astringency, sweetness, and slight acidity. Today, I want to introduce a very distinctive coffee. As a genuine, additive-free coffee, it has a rich natural berry flavor with a faint red wine aftertaste.

It is Kenya coffee, which has swept through European countries and even captivated the famously meticulous Germans. Kenya coffee is renowned in the coffee world for its rich and intense aroma, refreshing multi-layered acidity, full and smooth body, and subtle red wine flavor. It is highly sought after and a favorite among many coffee connoisseurs. However, if you're trying Kenya coffee for the first time, its acidity might take some getting used to.

Kenya coffee has a wonderful fruit flavor, tasting of blackberry and grapefruit. The subtle fruit acidity glides across the tongue with a fresh flavor, making it perfect for an iced coffee during hot summer days. Paired with a small slice of red grapefruit, a simple African afternoon tea is complete!

Kenya's coffee-growing regions are mainly concentrated in the highland areas represented by Mount Kenya (average cultivation altitude of 1500-2100 meters). The suitable climate throughout the year, combined with acidic red volcanic soil as growing land, creates the finest Kenya coffee, with SL28 and SL34 varieties.

To ensure only ripe berries are picked, local coffee farmers often patrol the forests about 7 times for inspection. Kenya coffee is generally grown by small-scale farmers, who usually harvest coffee cherries manually by themselves or by hiring workers.

Freshly picked coffee cherries need to be promptly transported to cooperative washing stations, where the washed and dried coffee is sent to cooperatives in the state of "parchment coffee" (coffee beans covered with inner skin). "Parchment coffee" is the final state before coffee beans are peeled. Finally, all coffee is collected together, and growers demand an average price based on their actual quality.

The coffee industry holds a very important position in Kenya, where cutting down or destroying coffee trees is illegal. No country in the world can continuously cultivate, produce, and sell coffee like Kenya. All coffee beans in Kenya are first purchased by the Kenya Coffee Board (CBK), where they are appraised and graded, then sold at weekly auctions without further grading during the auction process.

The Kenya Coffee Board only acts as an agent, collecting coffee samples and distributing them to buyers so they can determine price and quality. The best coffee grade is Peaberry (PB), followed by AA++, AA+, AA, AB, and so on, in sequence. Premium coffee is bright in appearance, delicious in taste, and slightly aromatic with wine notes.

If you ask those who have tasted Kenya coffee locally in Kenya what exactly Kenya coffee tastes like, they will probably tell you with a reminiscent expression: it's the taste of Africa.

This statement might sound like nonsense, but really, they're not being mysterious. Rather, it's the pleasure and surprise that a high-quality Kenya coffee brings to the senses, much like the feeling when first encountering Africa: shocking, surprising, delightful, and intriguing.

Knowledge Point

After harvest is completed, all Kenya coffee must be uniformly purchased by the government-established "Kenya Coffee Board (CBK)," where it undergoes cupping and coffee grade classification. Coffee grades are distinguished by "bean size," classified according to size, shape, and weight.

In Short

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, there are three coffee discount events because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has also been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for 6 years!

Important Notice :

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