Kenya Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations: The Unique Flavors of Kenyan Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Kenyan Coffee

When coffee was first introduced to Kenya, the country was under British colonial rule. At the time, the British colonial government widely promoted coffee cultivation in Kenya to earn foreign exchange, and after harvesting, the coffee beans were shipped to London for export sales. It wasn't until 1933 that Kenya passed the Coffee Act and established a Coffee Committee, after which coffee sales affairs were transferred back to Kenya.

The Kenyan government places great importance on coffee sales. The following year, in 1934, it established a coffee auction system. In 1935, it formally drafted the coffee grading system to improve coffee quality. Under the Kenyan government's emphasis, the coffee industry has developed very successfully.

Kenyan coffee cultivation mainly takes two forms: large farms and cooperatives. Large farms generally have bigger planting areas and independent coffee processing facilities, while most coffee production comes from numerous small-scale farmers organized into coffee cooperatives. Cooperatives typically hire specialized management personnel to supervise the farmers' processing, even refining that oversight down to the management of each coffee tree.

Compared with the shade-grown cultivation common in many high-quality producing regions, shade trees are not common in Kenyan coffee, which is evidently more exuberant. Kenyan coffee also rarely participates in certifications. Because of limitations in variety and environmental factors, the use of pesticides is necessary, which makes the organic certification that is popular elsewhere relatively rare in Kenya. Kenya has two coffee harvest seasons: the main harvest from October to December, and the secondary harvest from May to July.

The first variety brought to Kenya for cultivation was Bourbon. In the 1950s, the agricultural research institution Scott Laboratory, through relentless effort, selected two excellent hybrid varieties, SL-28 and SL-34. This overturned the long-standing prejudice that artificially selected varieties could not surpass natural ones. SL-28 and SL-34 helped Kenyan coffee form its unique flavor characteristics and established a perfect reputation in the coffee world.

Furthermore, like the choices made by governments in other coffee-producing countries, and with coffee yield and disease resistance in mind, the Kenyan government and the Coffee Research Foundation are also actively promoting a new variety called Ruiru 11. Continuous effort, however, has not won it recognition from coffee connoisseurs, who agree that the new variety falls short in flavor. The prospects of Ruiru 11 remain to be seen.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Kenya's bright, complex profile has its closest counterpart in neighboring Ethiopia, and FrontStreet Coffee offers two excellent ways to compare them. FrontStreet's Washed Gedingding cooperative coffee, a classic Yirgacheffe, shows jasmine florals, lemon acidity, and berry notes with the clean, tea-like structure that Kenyan washed lots are known for. If you favor the fruitier, more fermented side of East Africa, FrontStreet's Sidamo Huakui is processed naturally and layers berry, floral, jackfruit, melon, and honey notes. Tasting either alongside a Kenyan AA makes the shared East African character, and the differences in processing, immediately clear.