Roasted for Espresso | Cherry jam, candied ginger, toffee
Luscious and velvety, look for notes of apple compote and cherry jam. Accents of candied ginger lift a dense toffee sweetness.
An exciting opportunity to taste a sweet, fruity Kenyan offering as espresso from a lot of exclusively SL34 cultivar.
This lot was grown in Kiambu county in Kenya’s, just north of the capital Nairobi, at an altitude of 1,950 metres. The soils are typical to what we experience in Kenya, being rich, red, volcanic and fertile. What is atypical for us purchasing this coffee is that it is an estate-grown coffee, rather than a communally grown lot processed at a central washing station, or factory. Also unusual is that rather than a combination of cultivars we are tasting here just a single variety, SL34.
In the 1930s Scotts Labs developed and identified the famed cultivars, SL28 ad SL34, that Kenya’s reputation for quality has been built upon. SL34 derived from a single tree selection growing on the Loresho Estate in the Kiambu region, know then as ‘Kabete’, with a Typica lineage.
The operation at Kamundu is overseen by Sasini estates, representing a group that specialise in various agricultural crops such as macadamia nuts, avocadoes and coffee. As well as Kamundu they are growing coffee on Doondu, Thika, Tinganga, Gulmarg, Kakindu and Ruiri Mills farms.
They delineate between the primary harvest running from December through to March, and a fly crop harvest from May-July. After hand harvesting the coffee cherries, they are sorted through to remove any defective fruit, traditionally depulped and fermented before undergoing washing and grading in channels. They are soaked in clean water to homogenise and stabilise the coffee before being put out to sun dry on raised beds.
Not only are the group dedicated to responsible governance and operations by adhering to strict certification policies and best practices (for example they are both RFA nad UTZ certified) they go beyond this in supporting the local community. They support education infrastructures, maintaining daycare facilities for the youngest children, four primary schools and a single secondary school, as well as running a medical health clinic. Workers on their coffee farms a provided living quarters and access to the educational and medical facilities, as well as membership in a trade union and over minimum wage pay.
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PRODUCER
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Sasini Estates |
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HARVEST |
February, 2024 |
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PROCESS |
Traditionally depulped and fermented, fully washed and slowly dried on raised beds. |
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CULTIVARS |
SL34 |
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REGION |
Kiambu County |
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COUNTRY |
Kenya |
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ALTITUDE |
1,950 metres |
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ARRIVAL |
August, 2024 |
Roasted for Espresso | Dates, kola nut, tamarind
Syrupy sweet with notes of sticky dates, kola nut and caraway. The finish is tangy like plum jam and tamarind.
Passing through Nyungwe forest and past lots of cultivated eucalyptus we first met with Bernard Uwitije at Gitega Hills in Nyamagabe. He has been working with Rwanda Trading Company since 2016. In 2018 he established a new station in Kibumbwe called Bwenda, to serve the 850 contributing smallholders in this area. Typically, the farmers here grow coffee alongside cassava, sorghum, beans, potatoes and bananas. They have an average of 450 coffee trees, comprised of the more traditional strain of the Red Bourbon cultivar, known as Bourbon Mayaguez 139, alongside more recent introductions of RAB C15 and local variations called Jackson and Mibirizi. There are 15 collection points for the farmers to deliver harvested cherries to before they are collated and taken to the wet mill for batch processing. After hand sorting, floating and depulping with a Penagos eco-pulper, around 30% fruit mucilage is left on the coffee’s parchment layer. This is broken down during an 8 hour fermentation stage before being fully washed, soaked and ultimately sun-dried on raised beds for around 15 days.
Bernard grew up in Maraba, now an internationally famed coffee producing region. Understanding the challenges involved in coffee production there is an emphasis on supporting the contributing smallhold coffee farmers. Bernard is supporting his community by paying for a health insurance scheme and school fees for the producers’ children. They also host agricultural training seminars to improve yield and quality from the coffee trees, and operate a small demo farm where they offer GAP training (Good Agricultural Practices) as well as visiting the growers on their own smallhold farms and offering free organic compost comprised of broken down coffee pulp and animal manure. Every season they are donating coffee tree seedlings for the farmers to renovate and increase their coffee production and therefore their potential income.
The donation of seedlings primarily consists of the RAB C15 variety. We have been lucky enough to visit the research and development centre in Rubona where this variety is propagated, acting as a mother seed garden. It has been available since 2015 with a lineage of selections from an Indian coffee research centre, Caturra, Kent and Timor Hybrid. Whilst susceptible to nematodes it offers resistance against drought, coffee berry disease and coffee leaf rust, all the while offering a high-quality cup profile.
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PRODUCER
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Bernard Uwitije & 850 smallholders |
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HARVEST |
June, 2024 |
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PROCESS |
Cherries are sorted, floated and eco-pulped. Wet fermented, fully washed and dried on raised beds. |
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CULTIVARS |
RAB C15, Jackson, Mibirizi & Bourbon Mayaguez 139 |
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REGION |
Kibumbwe, Nyamagabe, Southern Province |
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COUNTRY |
Rwanda |
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ALTITUDE |
1,700 metres |
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ARRIVAL |
December, 2024 |