How is African Kenyan Coffee? Introduction to the Story of Kenyan Gachatha Processing Station

FrontStreet Coffee - Kenya Gachatha Processing Station Introduction

Most coffee beans are graded and inspected by the Kenya Coffee Board and then sold at auction. The public auction system can be traced back to before 1934. Auctions run on an agent system: Kenya has 50 licensed agents who send sample beans to their respective customers for cupping, and customers bid on their preferred coffee through agents at auction. This method, however, seems to encourage middlemen and erode farmers' income.

So in 2006 Kenya reopened 32 independent sales agents who can deal directly with foreign coffee buyers without going through auctions, provided they meet the Kenya Coffee Board's standards for quality, storage, bank guarantees and more. Both systems now run in parallel. After several years of development it has become the most transparent auction distribution system: better-quality coffee earns better prices through cupping, encouraging more cooperatives and farms to join. Still, I feel the latter allows direct contact with farmers and first-hand information.

The grading system uses AA PLUS/AA/AB, but this only refers to particle size and uniformity, not quality differences. Premium altitude ranges from 1,600 to 2,300 meters. From 2009 to 2010, the effects of global warming and disease reduced production and pushed prices up. Kenya's irreplaceable strong blackcurrant acidity keeps good Kenyan beans at high prices. Harvesting can happen twice a year, with April-June the secondary season and October-December the main harvest.

The Nyeri region is Kenya's main producing area. The Gachatha Processing Station collects coffee beans from farmers within a 5-kilometer radius, buying green beans from about 750 nearby farmers. Each farmer grows an average of 200 coffee trees, and the beans are processed using traditional Kenyan washing methods. The most distinctive feature here is that shading is provided mainly by banana leaves, offering fresh peach blossom aroma, a creamy texture and wildflower honey flavor, with red currant and kumquat acidity. Acidity is the key characteristic of Kenyan coffee.

Property Characteristics:

• Farm: Gachatha Processing Station
• Grade: AA
• Country: Kenya
• Region: Nyeri, Central Mountain Region
• Altitude: 1,750~1,900 meters
• Farm Size: Small-scale coffee farmers
• Soil: Red Volcanic Loam soils
• Harvesting Method: Hand picked

In Summary:

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want a rich, milk-friendly cup, FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blends are the natural companions. For classic Americanos and lattes, choose the Classic Blend or FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend: both add a small amount of Robusta to a traditional espresso recipe, so extraction yields aromas of butter, nuts, spice, dark chocolate and toast, with a wild, full body and plenty of golden crema that makes latte art easy.

For drinkers drawn to almond, walnut and hazelnut notes, FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend and FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend are the first picks, since both contain a large proportion of Brazilian coffee that provides comfortable bittersweetness and creamy peanut aroma with an exceptionally smooth entry. FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend carries the nutty, chocolate and caramel notes and gentle acidity of Colombian coffee; FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend adds the ripe-plum acidity of Yunnan smallholder beans, and ground it releases a creamy chocolate aroma. Balanced and highly adaptable, it works for lattes and Americanos as well as all kinds of specialty coffee drinks — an excellent partner for a café. FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy is a fruit-forward espresso blend that fuses the natural flavors of Arabica beans from different origins to recreate the distinct sweetness of strawberry gummy candy; it suits both home drinking and commercial café service, and one bag covers several brewing methods.

If you prefer pour-over with milk, choose a medium-dark single origin so the coffee isn't overwhelmed. Beans roasted darker gain flavor intensity, and a little milk softens the coffee while letting the creamy note through; if you're unsure of the roast, look for descriptors such as chocolate, nut, cream and cocoa. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate, Indonesian Mandheling, Bird of Paradise and Colombia Huila all fit well. For cold brew with milk, fruit-forward or winey medium roasts work best, such as FrontStreet's passion-fruit-forward Colombia Sidra or the rose-scented Strawberry Candy Geisha blend — in cold brew with a little milk their flavors stay coherent and easy to pick out.