Top quality Kenyan coffee produced by an excellent cooperative located in some of the best coffee growing terroir in the world

Brown Sugar, Molasses, Red Currant

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Cups of Kiama are representative of the best qualities of Kenyan coffee: syrupy, sweet, full bodied, with great flavor notes to boot. Cups open with an incredible amount of sweetness and pleasant acidity that balance each other perfectly. Notes of red grapefruit, red currant, plum, and cranberry abound and mingle with the deep rich flavors of dark brown sugar and molasses.

Producer Notes
This is a washed Kenya AA Top lot from Ichuga wetmill in Nyeri county. Ichuga is one of 4 wetmills - or 'factories' - operated by Kiama farmers' co-operative society. The co-op has 3,549 members, of which 690 deliver cherries to Ichuga for processing. The farmers occupy land on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya and western slopes of the Aberdare range, at altitudes of 3,900 - 5,000' above sea level.

Kiama utilises a traditional fully washed process using fresh water from Gathiururuko stream. Cherries are delivered to the wetmill where they undergo careful sorting to select only ripest for processing. Red ripe cherries are de-pulped and then fermented in water for 12-48 hours (depending on climatic conditions). The purpose of fermentation is two-fold: firstly to break down the remaining sugary mucilage, and secondly to develop more complexity in the cup. From here the coffee is washed & graded in clean water channels and then dried slowly in the sun on raised African beds for around 3 weeks.

Nyeri County has cool temperatures and fertile central highlands, lying between the Eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the Eastern end of the Great Rift Valley, and the western slopes of Mt. Kenya, the highest mountain in the country and second highest in Africa after Kilimanjaro. The combination of fertile volcanic soil, seasonal rainfall and high altitude provide the ideal climate for high quality arabica coffee cultivation. Coffee cherries in these conditions mature slowly, contributing to increased acidity and complexity in the cup. As such, coffees from Nyeri are widely considered some of the best in the world.

Variety: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru-11, Batian Processing Method: Washed

Size:12oz Roast level: Light

Brew Notes: This and other Kenyan coffees are able to produce outstanding cups at higher than normal brew ratios. In addition to other brewing methods, we recommend using a 1:10 brew ratio and adding another two parts of water to the resulting brew.

Current Black Oak Tasting Club Coffees