Which African Country Produces the Best Coffee? Kenya Coffee Bean Characteristics: Elegant Uplifting Acidity and Aroma

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FrontStreet Coffee - Kenya Coffee Introduction

African coffee bean flavors: Among them, Ethiopian coffee has a strong orange fragrance, while Kenyan coffee has a rich berry aroma, along with the sour fragrance of plum juice and grapefruit, as well as the sweet fragrance of sugarcane. The orange fragrance of Ethiopian coffee and the berry fragrance of Kenyan coffee are the biggest characteristics of African beans, and also what fascinates coffee enthusiasts the most.

Altitude, geology, latitude, processing methods, and varieties have established Kenya's coffee's heavyweight status in the specialty coffee world.

Altitude, Latitude, Geology

The equator passes through the middle of Kenya, and the country is conveniently located within ten degrees north and south latitude. Belonging to tropical production areas, there are two rainy seasons each year, allowing for two harvests, with 60% concentrated from October to December, and the remaining 40% from June to August. Coffee is mainly grown in the volcanic terrain at altitudes of 1,600-2,100 meters around the capital Nairobi to the Kenyan mountainous regions.

This altitude is suitable for the development of coffee bean flavors, because the mountain temperature is lower, growth is slower, the aromatic components of coffee beans are fully developed, the fruit acidity is more obvious, and the texture is also harder. This crescent-shaped coffee area with fertile soil is the main production area of Kenya's specialty beans.

Processing Methods

Central and South American beans rarely ferment for more than thirty-six hours in washing tanks, but Kenya's washing time lasts as long as seventy-two hours. After fermenting for thirty to forty-eight hours, the coffee beans with parchment are removed from the washing tank, the surface pectin layer is removed cleanly, and then a twenty-four-hour clean water soaking process is needed. Drying is done on special mesh racks to dry in the sun. Because they are elevated from the ground and the parchment beans are placed on the mesh, it helps with ventilation, moisture prevention, and uniform drying, making it less likely to absorb earthy flavors from the ground.

Kenyan coffee bean washing tanks have two levels, high and low. The process is: in the evening, first remove the defective products from the harvested coffee cherries, remove the peel, then remove most of the pectin from the sticky parchment beans, then enter the lower clean water pool for secondary fermentation. Then, every few hours, the circulating water must be updated to prevent mold growth; then it is introduced into washing channels to remove residual pectin. This is not yet finished - the cleaned parchment beans need to be soaked in a clean water pool for more than 12 hours before being dried and dehydrated to completion. No wonder Kenyan coffee tastes so delicate and refined given such labor-intensive water-intensive processing.

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