Dan and Tom address all things about Kenya coffee in a question and answer format.
We put together this video of based on the things we think our home coffee roastingThe application of heat to green coffee seeds (beans) to create palatable material for brewing a great cup!: Coffee roasting is a chemical process induced by heat, by... ...more customers might want to learn about KenyaKenya is the East African powerhouse of the coffee world. Both in the cup, and the way they run their trade, everything is topnotch.: Kenya is the East... ...more coffee.
We talk about the reputation of Kenya coffee, varieties, history, processingThe removal of the cherry and parchment from the coffee seed.: Coffee is either wet-processed (also called washed or wet-milled) or dry-processed (also called wild, natural or natural... ...more, and the Kenya coffee trade. Plus, some roasting ideas for Kenyan coffee.
If there’s something we missed, is unclear, or you disagree with, please add a comment and we will try to answer!
14 Responses
Very informative! Thank you, so much. Kenya is my favorite coffee bean, to roast.
Interested in “organic” coffee beans.
Crazy how I shop almost exclusively for organic foods.
I have been purchasing coffee beans from you for many years. And stupidly assumed the beans were organic?
Please enlighten us / me with more information on this.
Respectfully,
Paul T.
A lot of coffee is indeed grown organic but not certified. That would apply to every Ethiopia coffee we have, all Burundi, Rwanda, etc. But in Africa, Kenya farmers do use commercial fertilizer inputs generally, and will use basic insecticide like copper for leaf spraying. They dont use things like Roundup! It’s not organic, but the use of these is nothing like US food crops. Very localized and minimal. In Central and south America, there are more inputs used, but I dont see insecticide use in places we buy at all. Indonesia varies a bit more. My main concern there is intercropping with something they do treat for, like peppers, berry, certain fruits. But i dont see that intercropping with anywhere we buy.
Thompson,
Appreciate your time to answer my question. Fortunately for me my preferred region for coffee beans is Ethiopia. I do enjoy Kenya’s too and honestly the many other regions you purchase from and make available to all us coffee lovers.
I will likely try to limit my purchases to the more anti pesticides regions you described (fortunately the coffee beans I enjoy!)
But truth be told if lay down one of those descriptions on the full cupping notes I likely will be persuaded to buy!
I would love to see “organic” as part of the “specs” description.
Sweet Maria’s truly makes my life happy.
Keep up the exceptional, professional practices of selling beans and related products. You and your team are wonderful!
Brew well – respectfully,
Paul
Hey Paul, Dan jumping in here a sec to point out a Kenya that launches tomorrow from Burumani Farm that uses organic practices. They are still finalizing certification, so we weren’t able to obtain a certificate for this particular lot. Hopefully next year. Like Tom pointed out, it’s very rare to see fully organic Kenyan coffees, more likely in an single estate setting like Burumani, rather than a blend of small holder coffee. I should point out that it’s dry process not washed, and also has an initial anaerobic stage, so expect very wild fruit. It’s an incredibly interesting coffee, just read the description and see if it sounds like a good fit.
Thanks for the note.
Best,
Dan
Hey Dan.
Thanks for the follow up I will give it a look. And likely purchase a couple pounds or five depending on the description! I don’t mind “wild” fruit flavors. Thanks again!
Cheers
Paul
You bet! We should have that available in a couple of hours. Just a heads up that it’s a small-ish lot too. Hopefully it will last at least a week, but it’s hard to say for sure.
Best,
Dan
I am a Columbia coffee fanatic. I recently ordered some kenya dry process Nyeri Burumani to try blending w Columbian Maximo Cuhumbra. I am not loving the Columbian so I tht why not try blending. We have a Behmor roaster. Would it be better to mix the beans 60/40 Columbia to Kenya, then roast or roast separately then mix?
The Kenya dry process is a unique lot. Very fruity and intense. It’s going to be very dominant in a blend IMO. The advantage of roasting separately is to play around with the percentage of Kenya so it’s not the only thing you taste. 20% Kenya might be enough to enhance the Colombia without taking over completely. So yes my vote would be to roast separately to about City+ or Full city level. Let us know how it goes!
Thank you much. Great information. What other beans would you consider good blend combinations w Maximo C ? I read about wet process working well w Columbian. Would Ethiopian fit ? I like acidic and fruity.
I think 30-40% of a bright wet processed Ethiopia would work great!
Hey guys, just watched your Q & A on Kenya coffees. Thanks for that. I roasted some of the Burumani to a 13.7% moisture loss on the Bullet R1 V2. WOW! I is wild, alright. Definitely has a more “balanced” flavor after 10 days forward. Then I tried a (post-roast) blend of 5% Burumani with the Ethiopia Dry Process Suke Quto (13.3% loss) with amazing results. Not a loaded question, but just curious, in the Specs for the Burumani for Grade it says “Looks like 14-17 Screen” …is there an actual grade for this lot given the source and processing? Thanks again.
Hey Ron, good eye on the screen size comment. It looked like mostly 15-17/AB screen, but I spotted some smaller beans too, and wanted to make sure that was articulated in the specs. But to answer your question, it wasn’t exported as AA/AB. It certainly is a great coffee for blending, and as you’ve discovered, a little goes a long way! That extra rest mellows things out quite a bit.
Glad you’re enjoying the coffee.
-Dan
Thank you folks for this discussion–very informative–cements my preference for the Kenyas