June 2016: Barichu Karindundu AA
Coffee of the Month
We are back to Kenya this month with another fantastic release. Sure, we had a Kenyan coffee come through two months ago as the Coffee of the Month, but once in a while a coffee appears on our cupping table and just screams so loudly to be heard that we are left without much of a choice! The Karindundu AA displays deep dark toffee flavours in the cup along with red currants, wild berries and very bright green apple, with all of this carried on a juicy bright citric acidity. One of those stunning coffees that has the power, the complexity and the sweetness to convert newcomers over to specialty coffee.
Kenyan coffee sits in a league of its own when it comes to great quality coffee and it has become the yardstick against which all coffees are measured in the coffee world. You will often hear professional coffee tasters describe an amazing coffee they find in another country as “almost Kenya like!” or “so good I thought it was a Kenyan!”.
What we have never discussed about Kenyan coffee in the past is the perfect combination of the region’s geography and climate. Kenya and its coffee growing regions, such as the Nyeri region where this amazing Karindundu coffee hails from, are located smack bang on the equatorial line so the plant sits in the best position to absorb plenty of sunshine. These regions are also located at a high altitude of 1700 to 2100 metres above sea level, resulting in a cooler climate and slower maturation of the beans giving them a good length of time to absorb more and more goodness from the soil.
This is a particularly great year for Kenya quality. Hence, the second Kenyan Coffee of the Month for 2016! A big coffee from the world champs.
Our Guest Taster
Bella Jakubiak
Bella’s Feast, My Kitchen Rules Winner
It was a pleasure having Bella in as our Guest Taster for Coffee of the Month! You may have spotted her taking top spot on My Kitchen Rules with her sister Sammy. Bella now runs her own successful catering business called Bella’s Feast.
It’s always fun for us having chefs in because of how much they love, understand and describe flavour and taste. After diving into the Karindundu AA tasting with our Head Roaster, Adam Matheson, Bella started hitting notes of dried plum, raisin, Granny Smith apples and even Piernik! We all turned our heads to the side and Bella quickly explained it was a Polish cake her family made which is full of flavours of gingerbread, honey and fermentation.
Chatting about Bella’s day to day coffee ritual she admitted that ‘life doesn’t begin until the second I have a coffee in the morning,’ and we couldn’t agree with her more.
It was a blast to have her visit and to play with all the filters on her Snapchat! Thanks for putting the canapes and spreadsheets on hold for the morning, and popping by.
The Coffee
Country Of Origin Kenya
Farmer Barichu Karindundu
Region Nyeri
Elevation 1750m
Varietal SL34, SL28
Processing Fully Washed
Dry Aroma Dark Chocolate, brandy, smokey
The Cup
Acidity Granny Smith
Flavours Dried plum, raisins, piernik
Mouthfeel Bright, juicy