Kenyan Coffee: From Colony to Connoisseur.

Kenyan Coffee: From Colony to Connoisseur.

Kenyan Coffee growers are looking to a new market: their own people. Historically, Kenyans have favoured black tea, a legacy of British colonialism.

However, coffee farmers are hoping to cultivate a domestic coffee-drinking culture to lessen their dependence on the volatile international coffee market.

This would provide a safety net for farmers during economic downturns.

Growing Specialty Coffee in Kenya

Kenyan coffee thrives in the lofty heights! Farmers grow these cherries in volcanic soil on plateaus near snow-capped mountains, these coffee plants grow between 4,600 and 6,500 feet above sea level.

This altitude earns them prestigious SHG”Strictly High Grown” and SHB and “Strictly Hard Bean” labels, and more importantly, allows the beans to mature slowly, absorbing rich nutrients.

The coffee belt stretches all the way from the 17,000-foot Mount Kenya down towards Nairobi,the capital city.

Source: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2021/02/exploring-popular-kenyan-coffee-varieties-sl-28-sl-34/ 

Kenyan coffee has a diverse variety within its Arabica category. Here’s a breakdown of five distinct varieties:

• SL-28 & SL-34: These thrive in drier conditions, with SL-28 being even more drought-tolerant.
• K7: While not quite as flavorful as the first two, K7 shines with its strong resistance to coffee berry disease.
• Ruiru 11 & Batian: These two varieties offer unique characteristics that haven’t been elaborated on here, but are likely distinct in flavour or growing requirements.

Here, for more information.

Kenyan Coffee Growing Regions

Growers grow both Arabica and Robusta beans; with Arabica being the most produced because of its higher quality and wider appeal to the international market.

But where are they grown across Kenya?

Central Region

Kiambu, Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Muranga are known for their traditional coffee-growing practices in Kenya. These regions produce about 60% of the country’s coffee, as a result of its abundant agricultural land.

Coffee grown here has a grapefruit taste with a citrus acidity and blackcurrant and chocolate notes.

Eastern Region

This region includes, Meru Central, Machakos, Makueni, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi.

Rift-Valley Region

Farmers choose the western highlands of the Rift Valley that comprise Nakuru, Trans Nzoia, Kipkelion, Nandi, and Baringo.

Coffee grown here has a rich chocolate taste, medium acidity, and fruity overtones.

Western Region

In this part of the country agriculture is the backbone of the local economy.

Coffee grown on the slopes of Mt. Elgon has fruity overtones and a kick of acidity.

The regions are; Bungoma, Vihiga, and Kakamega regions.

Nyanza Region

Coffee growing regions are Kisii, Migori, Kisumu and Nyamira.

Coffee produced in this region has a medium acidity, smooth and creamy medium body with flavours that are sweet, nutty, and toasty with some hints of fruits in its undertones.

Kenyan Coffee Grading and Auction System

Kenyan coffees are grouped in categories to improve roasting consistency, they’re sorted in size, and are graded when they’re still green coffee beans, before being roasted. Any individual coffee tree can produce all grades of coffee from E, PE, AA, AB, C, TT, T, and MH/ML.

They all mean something about the quality of beans and also the value every beans potentially possess which provides an easy avenue to meet the demands of the international market with quality beans from the country. Read more Kenyan coffee auction system.

The coffee beans are sorted and rated by bean size as well as shape, density, colour, with the general assumption being that bigger is better, in higher quality of course.

Another rule of thumb with Kenyan coffee is that bigger beans have a larger percentage of essential oils which improve the coffee’s taste and aroma.

Credit: Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

Tasting Notes From Kenyan Coffee

Kenyan coffee beans have distinct flavours that vary between regions.

With each region producing unique blends on its highly rated beans, which makes it difficult to distinguish specific beans and their respective origin.

The high elevations of the plateaus Kenyan coffee grows give it a full body, an almost perfect acidity with rich undertones of citrus and blackcurrant in the flavour and aroma.

I suppose this is one reason a cup of Kenyan coffee is known as one of the five best coffees in the world, because of its distinctive flavours.

Another factor that compounds to the quality Kenyan coffee is it is typically wet-processed. A combination like that cannot be a mistake, don’t you think?

Read our previous post on Mexico!