What is the flavor profile of Kenyan and Mandheling coffee blended in a specific ratio?

Exploring Deep Roasted Kenyan Coffee

For more premium coffee knowledge, please follow the WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee

Those who love Kenyan coffee probably appreciate its acidity, but I've seen in certain books that Kenyan coffee is actually deep roasted, which starkly contrasts with today's understanding of Kenyan coffee flavors. So what exactly does deep roasted Kenyan coffee taste like? Let's wait and see~

Today we're using FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato and Karuguto, respectively produced in Nyeri and Kiambu, Thika, Kenya. In terms of altitude, Karuguto is at 1800 meters, while Asalia ranges from 1550-1750 meters - both are quite high-altitude beans~ The processing method is likewise Kenyan washed processing, with SL28 and SL34 varieties.

These two beans both have relatively thick flesh and belong to high-altitude hard beans. The SL28 and SL34 bourbon varieties are also relatively hard beans. Overall, Kenyan washed beans have poor heat conductivity, requiring relatively long time for heat to reach the bean core and develop fully. They are indeed quite suitable for deep roasting.

We deep roasted both coffees to the beginning of second crack, when the bean surface wrinkles had completely unfolded, then conducted cupping.

Flavor Evaluation

Karuguto: Cedar, flowers, herbal, almond, berry acidity, balanced mouthfeel.

Little Tomato: Citrus, plum, berries, hazelnut, chocolate, soft acidity, rich body, sweet aftertaste.

Compared to light roasts, both deep roasted Kenyan beans have significantly reduced acidity. The dry aroma of tomato in Karuguto basically disappeared, replaced by rich spice aromas; the blackcurrant acidity fragrance in Little Tomato also vanished, developing into berry and citrus aromas.

Brewing Evaluation

We took the better-flavored Asalia and conducted brewing evaluations with two different devices.

1. Pour Over

V60 dripper, 16g coffee, medium-coarse grind, 88°C water temperature, 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio, 2'15" brewing time.

Technique: First pour 30g for 30-second bloom, second pour 130g, pause briefly, third pour 100g.

The wet aroma has floral and citrus fragrances. The entry has slight astringency with almond and berry flavors. The body is rich with cedar and toffee flavors. The aftertaste is warm citrus.

2. French Press

2-cup French press, 16g coffee, medium-coarse grind, 87°C water temperature, 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio, 2'30" brewing time.

Technique: Warm the pot, add coffee, first pour 30g and stir slightly for 30-second bloom, second pour 230g and cover for 2-minute steep, finally press quickly.

The French press Kenyan coffee has a thin layer of oil on the surface, cleaner mouthfeel, with disappeared astringency. It has citrus, almond, and caramel flavors, with strong berry aroma in the finish and aftertaste. Cedar notes subtly appear in the background, with a long aftertaste.

We discovered that this deep roasted Little Tomato is actually quite suitable for French press. We further considered: what about making espresso? Kenyan SOE has very high acidity and relatively thin body, with not-so-good mouthfeel. FrontStreet Coffee, not being acid-loving, decided to add a bean with high richness and mouthfeel for pairing, thus creating a peculiar combination.

Deep Roasted Mandheling + Deep Roasted Kenya 1:1 Espresso

This blend espresso turned out surprisingly good! Rich crema, full body, with strong toffee, chocolate, and peach aromas, and persistent almond flavors. When mixed with milk to make milk coffee, it's very rich and smooth, reminiscent of heavy dark chocolate cranberry brownie cake~

Through research, we found that if Kenyan coffee beans are used as single-origin coffee, deep roasting, while bringing woody aromas from destructive distillation and heavy caramelized flavors, will also eliminate their original excellent floral and fruit flavors, especially berry notes and juice sensation - it can be said to be a double-edged sword. As for Kenyan beans used in blends, to achieve rich and balanced mouthfeel, deep roast is a more suitable roast degree~

Finally, let's discuss why there's such a thing as deep roasted Kenyan coffee. This viewpoint mainly emerged during the second wave of coffee, when espresso was dominant. At that time, roasting machines and techniques were relatively primitive, and processing methods were quite crude. Roasters' understanding of coffee beans would also classify some hard washed beans as difficult to roast (indeed, Kenyan beans are not easy to roast thoroughly), and deep roasting could effectively solve the "under-roasted" problem.

With the rise of specialty coffee, European-style light roasts highlighting enzymatic floral and fruit aromas became popular. More and more beans originally thought to only be suitable for deep roasting have moved toward medium or even light roast levels to express their most original regional flavors~ We now have much broader imaginative space in exploring how a bean should be roasted.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473