How Many Coffee Growing Regions Does Kenya Have and How Do Its Coffee Varieties Achieve Their Status

FrontStreet Coffee - An Introduction to Kenya Coffee

Kenya Coffee Varieties

The first variety brought to Kenya for cultivation was Bourbon. In the 1950s the agricultural research institution Scott Laboratory, through tireless work, selected and bred two outstanding hybrids: SL-28 and SL-34. They overturned the long-held assumption that artificially bred varieties could never surpass natural ones, and they gave Kenyan coffee the flavor characteristics that built its reputation around the world.

According to botanists at the SL laboratory, SL28 and SL34 are genetic variants. SL28 carries mixed lineage from French Mission, Mocha and Yemen Typica. The original aim in breeding SL28 was to combine high quality with resistance to pests and disease in a high-volume bean.

The yield of SL28 never did reach the volumes hoped for, but its copper-colored leaves and broad, bean-shaped seeds deliver wonderful sweetness, balance and a complex, shifting flavor, along with a distinctive citrus and dark plum character. SL34 has a similar flavor profile, but beyond its complex acidity and sweet finish it has a heavier, richer and cleaner mouthfeel than SL28. SL34 carries lineage from French Mission, Bourbon and more Typica. Its beans look much like SL28, but it withstands sudden heavy rain better. It is these two varieties that define the Kenyan style we have come to know: intense, rich fruit acidity, a full body and beautiful balance.

Kenya Coffee Growing Regions

Kenya's coffee growing is concentrated mainly in the highlands around Mount Kenya. The tropical climate and the acidic red volcanic soil give coffee a naturally suitable environment. The country's seven major producing areas are the best known, among them Nyeri, Thika, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Embu and the western side of Mount Kenya, with the central areas of Nyeri and Ruiru among the most important.

Kenya Coffee Processing

Large farms usually run their own processing facilities. The many smallholder farmers typically hand-pick the ripe cherries themselves. Picking is labor-intensive work; during harvest the whole family turns out, and extra workers are often hired. The freshly picked cherries must be taken to processing factories owned by the cooperatives without delay for pulping, by whatever transport is at hand - ox cart, pickup or truck. After pulping, the parchment coffee is held briefly at the cooperative plant before being sent to privately owned mills for hulling.

Knowledge Point: Kenya Coffee Grading - AA, AB and C Indicate Bean Size

In brief: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We hold nothing back, because we simply want more people to fall in love with coffee. Every month we run three discounted coffee events, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more friends to drink the best coffee at the lowest price. That has been our mission for six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

SL28 and SL34 are what give Kenyan coffee its unmistakable profile, and FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato puts both of them in the cup. This Kenya Asali AA Top comes from the Asali processing station in Thika, grown at 1,550-1,750 meters on volcanic soil and given a 72-hour washed fermentation; we roast it light to keep the acidity lively and the fruit flavor layered. The dry aroma carries dried cherry tomato and florals, the cup opens with clear cherry tomato and dark plum, the acidity is bright and firm with the density of freshly pressed juice, the mid-palate turns sweet with pear and black plum, and the finish is clean and long, with brown-sugar sweetness and a whisper of green tea.

For contrast, FrontStreet Gudiding Cooperative is a washed Ethiopian coffee from a single village team in the Worka district of Yirgacheffe. Where Kenyan coffee is dense and savory-bright, Gudiding is the softer side of washed African coffee - jasmine, citrus and berry, a green tea-like body and a clean, sweet finish - and it is an easy, welcoming first step into specialty coffee.