Kenya
Kaliluni   Peaberry   Lot No. 441

Kenya is a modern coffee powerhouse, producing distinctively unique coffees on several hundred thousand small farms across its rugged high plains.  Many of the farms are grouped into cooperatives and processed at central mills.  This lot is from Kaliluni, in the Machakos District of southern Kenya, just southeast of Nairobi. 

This lot is a peaberry coffee.  Instead of the usual pair of flat-sided coffee beans growing inside the coffee fruit, a single round bean forms.  These spheroidal beans often have a more concentrated flavor than the ordinary beans.  They can be easily separated from the flat beans using mechanical sorting methods.

Much to its credit, Kenya has had a goal for many years of improving the quality of its coffee to the greatest extent possible.  Farmers are supported in their efforts to improve their crops, and coffees are sold through an auction system that rewards superior cup quality.  This lot is beautifully processed, exemplifying Kenya’s high standards of sorting and grading: uniform, healthy-looking beans of even size and shape, with virtually no defects.

Personal Appraisal: Wonderfully winy coffee.  The cup is bursting with classic Kenya character.  Medium body, light bright vibrant acidity, dark chocolate, a subtle walnut nuance, faint root-vegetable and toasted grains notes, and a luscious dry winy fruitiness.