Kenyan Coffee Beans | Introduction to SL28, SL34 Varieties from Thika Region Assalia K72 Coffee Beans

Coffee is grown across multiple continents, but Africa is arguably its most vital component: the continent hosts not only Ethiopia, the universally recognized birthplace of coffee, but also other producing countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Among them, Kenya stands as one of Africa's most celebrated coffee origins.

Kenyan Coffee

Kenya lies in eastern Africa, with the equator crossing its center and the Great Rift Valley running north to south. Most of the country is plateau at an average elevation of 1,500 meters, with Mount Kenya in the central highlands soaring to 5,199 meters. Climates vary, but the whole territory falls within the tropical monsoon zone: the coast is hot and humid while the plateaus are temperate, with average annual temperatures between 12 and 26°C. Add the equatorial position, mountain terrain, and volcanic soil, and you have the conditions that nurture Kenya's specialty coffee.

Thika / Asali Processing Station

Kenya's many coffee regions cluster mainly in the southwest: Bungoma, Embu, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Machakos, Meru, Mt. Elgon, Murang'a, Nakuru, Nyeri, Thika, Taita Taveta, and Trans-Nzoia—14 in total. The most famous are Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Kirinywe, and Thika.

Thika is a small town near the capital, Nairobi. Coffee fields surround the city, and although Thika is an industrial town, it sits amid farmland and waterfalls. About 2,000 farmers grow coffee in the area, today mainly the SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, and Bourbon varieties. The region is home to notable processing stations such as the Asali Processing Station—"Asali" means honey in Swahili, one of Kenya's official languages. The station lies in the Thika area between the Aberdare Mountains and the Great Rift Valley and focuses primarily on washed processing.

SL34 & SL28

SL28 and SL34 were selected in the late 1930s, when the Kenyan government commissioned the former Scott Agricultural Laboratories (now the National Agricultural Laboratories) to evaluate 42 varieties for yield, quality, drought resistance, and disease resistance. "SL" stands for Scott Laboratories, and SL34 and SL28 were among the chosen few. Both proved to have excellent quality and flavor—but also susceptibility to coffee disease.

Genetic testing has since shown that SL28 descends from the Bourbon variety while SL34 derives from Typica. Yet the two share remarkably similar profiles: complex, layered acidity with excellent sweet aftertaste. In the mouth, SL28 runs heavier, more intense, and with higher clarity.

K72 Washed Processing

Kenyan coffee relies mainly on washed processing—and Kenya's version is distinctive. After harvest, farmers first sort out the best cherries, which are pulped and soaked in fermentation tanks for 24 hours. They are then washed thoroughly to remove some of the mucilage, the water is changed, and they ferment for another 24 hours. The cycle repeats three times, totaling 72 hours, before the beans finally go out to dry—hence the name "Kenyan 72-hour fermented washed process," or K72. The extended low-temperature fermentation gives the beans brighter acidity and a cleaner mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Kenya Asali AA TOP Coffee Beans

Region: Thika Region

Estate/Processing Station: Asali Processing Station

Altitude: 1,550-1,750 meters

Varieties: SL28, SL34

Processing Method: K72 Washed Processing

Flavor Notes: Cherry tomatoes, black plums, berries, citrus, green tea

FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Asali is K72 washed and roasted light-to-medium. Brewed on a V60 at 1:15 with 92°C water, the dry aroma offers mature tomato and florals, while the cup delivers cherry tomato and black plum with bright acidity, prominent sweetness, a juicy body, and a clean finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the Asali's bright, juicy acidity wins you over, Kenya's East African neighbors have plenty more to offer. A perfect companion cup is FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Yirgacheffe daily bean from Ethiopia: white jasmine florals with bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like body, at an accessible price that has made it many people's first specialty coffee. Yirgacheffe, a small town in southern Ethiopia's Sidama region at 1,700–2,100 meters, has such a recognizable profile—white florals and lemon-citrus acidity—that the name became a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee.

For a fruit-driven contrast, try FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Huakui (Flower Witch), one of the most successful stars of recent specialty coffee: tropical aromas of strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and lychee, with distinct sweetness, minimal bitterness, and a smooth, juicy sip that earns it the nickname "the coffee that tastes least like coffee." And at the pinnacle sits the FrontStreet Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha—the legend of the specialty world—with supremely elegant jasmine, citrus, bergamot, and black tea notes in a clean, transparent cup with a long, layered finish. It costs more than ordinary specialty coffee, but its unmistakable aromatics remain one of the ultimate experiences coffee lovers chase.