Kenyan Coffee: All You Should Know & Guide

Kenyan Coffee: All You Should Know & Guide. In this article, I want to share all you need to know about Kenyan coffee, its process, and how we buy Kenyan coffee.

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What is Kenyan Coffee?

One of the most sought-after coffees in the world, Kenyan coffee is of the “Colombia mild” variety and is well recognized for its robust flavor, full body, and lovely scent with overtones of cocoa.

History of Kenyan Coffee

The Bourbon variety of Arabica coffee was brought to Kenya by European missionaries in the late 1800s from Brazil. At Bura in the Taita Hills, at Kibwezi in 1900, and then at Kikuyu and Thika in 1904, they planted the first coffee trees.

White immigrants started to cultivate the crop, paying native Kenyans cheaply for their labor. There were over 50 coffee plantations in the nation in 1900.

At the time, Kenya was a British colony known as the East Africa Protectorate. The British recognized an opportunity to grow coffee in East Africa and seized the opportunity to do so.

The cultivation of coffee in Kenya was initially not commercialized, and there were no rules governing the farming, production, processing, grading, or sale of the crop.

Types of Kenyan Coffee

Kenya AA is a classification of Kenyan coffee, despite being commonly recognized as a Kenya coffee variety. Following milling, every Kenyan coffee bean is rated. Based on the size of the bean’s screen, grades are given.

Beans that have a screen size of 17 or 18 (or 17/64 or 18/64 of an inch) are given the grade AA, which is typically the largest bean.

Despite the fact that many people believe the size of the beans to be an indicator of quality, it is vital to remember that there are many other elements that contribute to a cup of excellent quality coffee.

At the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, Kenyan coffee is traded once a week. It is based at The Wakulima House, Exchange Lane which is off Haile Selassie Avenue.

Although the coffee is packaged in single 60 kg sisal bags, the bids are made per bag of 50 kg. The average coffee price at the auction (per 50 kg bag) is shown in the table below.

TypePriceAA$377.20AB$317.42C$239.19PB$308.93T$183.70TT$252.51UG1$198.06UG2$104.81UG3$116.63

Kenyan Coffee Varieties

Coffee traveled the world before arriving in Kenya. Although Ethiopia, where coffee originated, is only a few miles away, it took 500 years for Kenyan coffee types to begin to produce their delicious coffee cherries.

Today, five widely consumed coffee types dominate the Kenyan terrain: SL28, SL34, K7, Batian, and Ruiru 11.

Kenyan Coffee Flavor Profile

Kenyan coffee beans have a number of traits that can help you distinguish them from those from other nations or areas, despite the fact that the flavors can differ from farm to farm.

• They use wet processing on their green coffees.
• They often have a full to medium body, a citrus-like acidity, and a winey flavor.
• They have a flavor that is complex, sweet, and fruity and has undertones of berries and dried tomatoes.