Why Does Starbucks Choose African Kenyan Coffee?

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Among Starbucks' 13 coffee beans, the one that left the deepest impression on me is the Kenya coffee bean in orange packaging. One reason is the pattern of a gentle African elephant slowly walking on the packaging, and another is that after medium roasting, these coffee beans exhibit full, robust acidity while carrying caramel sweetness.

The Symbolism of the Elephant on Starbucks Kenya Coffee Beans

The elephant on the packaging is an African elephant. African elephants differ from Asian elephants; due to surviving in the harsh environment of the African savanna for a long time, their gentle appearance hides inner wildness. Many people describe the flavor of Kenya coffee beans using African elephants: as solid as African elephants yet with wildness! FrontStreet Coffee thinks this is no exaggeration—the characteristic of Kenya coffee beans is their representative vibrant acidity, with a soft caramel sweetness in the aftertaste, which has been widely celebrated in the coffee industry.

Kenya Coffee Cultivation

Located in eastern Africa and straddling the equator, Kenya's abundant wildlife, high-altitude geographical environment, and tropical savanna climate provide "divine favor" for coffee cultivation. Meanwhile, volcanic soil brings more mineral nutrients to coffee trees. The phosphorus content in Kenya's volcanic soil is higher than in other African regions, and phosphate components affect coffee flavor, giving all coffee beans produced in the Kenya region a unique berry-like aroma.

Kenya Coffee Varieties

The Kenya region primarily cultivates SL28 and SL34 varieties, though there are others such as Ruiru 11 and Batian. SL28 belongs to the Bourbon gene family, with bean shapes appearing close to Bourbon's round and solid form. When FrontStreet Coffee conducted cupping tests of this variety individually, its flavor showed complex and varied acidity with wonderful sweetness. SL34 belongs to the Typica gene family, with elongated, oval-shaped beans. When FrontStreet Coffee cupped this variety separately, it had clean acidity and high sweetness.

Kenya Coffee Flavor

To preserve the full, robust acidity of Kenya coffee beans, roasting generally uses light to medium roasting levels. The AA coffee beans from the Kenya Asalia processing plant sold by FrontStreet Coffee use light-medium roasting. After brewing, they have cherry tomato acidity, with plum-like flavor when tasted, a clean and full juice-like mouthfeel, and a caramel sweetness in the aftertaste.

What is Kenya AA Coffee?

Kenya AA is a grading classification for Kenya coffee beans, determined by passing through standard screening sieves and graded by coffee fruit size. AA coffee fruit sizes range from 17-18 mesh (mesh is a unit of size). This is currently the highest grade in the official grading system. Does this mean AA grade coffee beans are always delicious? Not necessarily. Coffee bean flavor differences originate from factors such as regional soil, altitude, and climate. AA coffee beans aren't necessarily the best tasting, but their cleanliness will be superior.

Currently, FrontStreet Coffee's bean list features only one representative single-origin coffee from Kenya: the "Cherry Tomato," processed using double-washing method. This is a combination of SL28 and SL34 varieties. When roasted to a light-medium level, it not only presents elegant floral aromas but also solid cherry tomato and plum acidity, leaving a deep impression after drinking.

FrontStreet Coffee: Kenya Cherry Tomato Coffee Beans

Country: Kenya
Region: Asali (Honey Processing Plant)
Altitude: 1550-1750m
Varieties: SL28, SL34
Processing Method: 72-hour washed processing
Flavor: Snow pear, plum, brown sugar, cherry tomato, plum

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee considers that this bean uses a light-medium roasting method, so we recommend using higher water temperature and a faster flow rate dripper. This is mainly because we need to extract its bright acidic characteristics with high temperature, but we don't want over-extraction due to high temperature, so we choose the faster flow rate V60 dripper.

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Coffee grounds: 15g
Total water: 225ml
Water temperature: 91°C
Grind size: Fine sugar consistency | EK43s setting 10 (80% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)

First, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g more (scale shows around 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows around 225g), finishing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete dripping at 2'00", remove the dripper, and finish extraction.

Brewing flavor: The entry shows plum and cherry tomato flavors, with strong, solid acidity in the mouthfeel. The middle section highlights sweetness with a juice-like sensation, and the aftertaste has berry aroma and brown sugar sweetness, along with green tea fragrance.

Important Notice :

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