Best African Kenya Coffee Bean Brands and Complete Kenya Coffee Grade Guide

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FrontStreet Coffee - Kenya Coffee Introduction

Most Kenyan coffee grows at altitudes between 1,500-2,100 meters, with harvests occurring twice a year. To ensure only ripe berries are picked, people must patrol through the forests, making approximately 7 rounds back and forth. Kenyan coffee is cultivated by smallholder farmers who, after harvesting, first send the fresh coffee beans to cooperative washing stations. The washing stations then send the washed and dried coffee in "parchment coffee" form (coffee beans covered with endocarp) to the cooperatives ("parchment coffee" is the final state before the coffee beans are hulled).

Kenya's Official Green Bean Grading System

E Grade (Elephant Beans): This grade represents the largest particle size of Kenyan coffee beans, above screen 18 (18/64"), also known as elephant beans. Their quantity is very rare, and this grade is almost invisible in the Chinese market.

AA Grade: Particle size (Screen Size) between screen 17-18 (7.20mm sieve), with limited production. This is the most favored grade in China's mid-to-high-end market.

AB Grade: Particle size (Screen Size) between screen 15-16 (6.8mm-6.2mm sieve), accounting for the majority of production and is the most common green bean grade.

PB Grade: Round green beans. PB (Peaberry) is quite special, typically produced from the ends of coffee trees that flowered too late or too early. Due to scarce production, accounting for only 10% of yield, peaberries from the same coffee tree are generally priced higher than other flat beans. When peaberries are specially collected together, defective beans are mostly removed, reducing the defect ratio, making particle size more uniform, resulting in more even roasting and improved flavor.

C Grade: Particle size (Screen Size) between screen 12-14 (4.8mm-5.6mm sieve).

TT Grade: Lighter green beans blown out from AA and AB grade beans using an air classifier, indicating soft beans that don't meet hardness standards.

T Grade: Particle size (Screen Size) below screen 12 (4.8mm sieve). Lighter green beans blown out from C grade beans using an air classifier, indicating soft beans that don't meet hardness standards, are small particles, and contain some broken and defective beans.

MH/ML Grade: Beans that haven't undergone wet processing or selection, as they are beans that fell after harvest, accounting for approximately 7% of all coffee beans. This belongs to the lowest grade beans, only for Kenya's domestic market.

Kenya AA (Kenya Ngariama AA): Among the world's recognized, highest-grade Arabica coffee series, indispensable coffee is Kenya AA. Here, AA refers to the grade of green bean size, appearance, and density. The evaluation grades include 7 levels from AA (largest green beans) to T (smallest green beans).

Kenyan coffee, with AA being the largest grade, contains the most oil content. This oil component is unique to Kenya and can induce rich aromas. Most Kenya AA coffee is processed using the washed method.

Knowledge Point: Coffee roasting is the process that triggers Maillard reactions and caramelization reactions inside green beans, producing more wonderful flavors.

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation just to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Furthermore, there are three low-discount coffee activities every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years!

Important Notice :

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