Which Countries Produce African Coffee Beans and How Do Single-Origin Kenyan Beans Taste?

FrontStreet Coffee - African Coffee Origins: Kenya Region Characteristics

Kenyan coffee is renowned for its distinctive, complex flavor profile, with prominent fruit notes and especially berry-like aromas. Most Kenyan coffees also carry a sweet fragrance and a pleasant acidity.

Kenyan coffee is grown both by large estates and by smallholder farmers. Coffee from smallholders is sent to local wet mills for processing after harvest, which makes it fairly easy to obtain single-estate beans. Beans from a given wet mill are usually labeled with size grades, even though the same batch may come from hundreds of small farmers.

Like most producing countries, Kenya grades its beans by size. To some extent, size correlates with quality, though it is quite common for AB or PB grades to outshine AA.

Coffee Details

Origin: Kenya

Region: Eastern Kirinyaga, Thika Region

Processing Station: Gachami

Varieties: SL28/SL34

Altitude: 1600-1750 meters

Processing Method: Double fermentation

Kirinyaga is the name of Kenya's highest mountain. The Thika region lies east of Kirinyaga and is made up of small local farmers. After harvest, farmers deliver their cherries to the Gachami wet processing station and other cooperative wet mills for post-harvest processing.

There are many wet processing methods, and double fermentation is a relatively common Kenyan technique. Compared with ordinary washed processing, it involves two washing steps. The first is identical to a regular washed process: after de-pulping, the beans go into a wet fermentation tank to soak. After 24 hours the water is drained and the beans are cleaned, then they move into a second fermentation, a further soak. During that second soak, additional water changes are required so the water and beans do not develop off-odors from prolonged soaking. The method uses more water and is somewhat more costly.

Those two wet fermentation steps are what give the process the name "double fermentation." Once you understand the principle, it no longer feels mysterious. The extra wet fermentation step is meant to build more smoothness in the mouthfeel and more complexity in flavor than a single wash can achieve.

After double fermentation at the Gachami wet processing station, the coffee has a very clean sweet taste with lemon-like acidity and tea-like flavors. Subtle tomato-like sweet-and-sour notes appear in the finish, and of course high clarity is a given.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Kenya's mastery of double washing is exactly what makes FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato such a standout. Repeated rinsing and soaking push the juice-like character to its limit, so the cup is full of cherry tomato, dark plum, snow pear, black plum, and brown sugar aromas, sweet-sour, and juicy, and a favorite among seasoned coffee drinkers.

If the clean, aromatic side of washed coffee is what draws you in, FrontStreet Coffee's Gutingding Cooperative is a fine counterpart from Ethiopia, where the traditional washed process brings out the maximum jasmine florality and bright citrus acidity, with green tea and honey notes after a light-to-medium roast that suit pour-over, cold brew, and espresso alike.