Mazelab - Gerald Njagi Kambarare SL28 Peaberry

Kenya — Gerald Njagi Kambarare SL28 Peaberry (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🫐 Blackcurrant • 🍎 Pomegranate • 🌺 Hibiscus • 🍬 Dark Sugar

DETAILS

• Producer: Gerald Njagi
• Farm: Kambarare
• Region: Kirinyaga, Kenya
• Varietal: SL28 Peaberry
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,950 MASL
• Project: Retro 1984

INTRO

Another Kenya, another peaberry selection — this time from Kambarare in Kirinyaga, and part of the Retro 1984 project: a collaboration focused on bringing back pure SL variety separations from the years before hybrid varieties came to dominate Kenyan coffee. Vibrant, juicy, structured, and deeply expressive, with the concentrated sweetness and intensity that peaberries are loved for. In the cup: blackcurrant, pomegranate, hibiscus, and dark sugar.

THE PRODUCER

Gerald Njagi is a third-generation coffee producer who started Kambarare in 2011 by leasing his first 100 coffee trees. Today, together with his family, they manage around 1,000 trees, with Gerald personally overseeing processing and quality control across the farm. What makes Kambarare special is the balance between tradition and experimentation — always pushing Kenyan coffee forward while protecting the classic profiles that built the country's reputation in the first place.

This lot is part of the Retro 1984 project — the name referring to the years before hybrid varieties became dominant in Kenya, with the aim of returning focus to the expressive, complex SL variety profiles that shaped Kenyan coffee's identity for decades. SL28, developed by Scott Agricultural Laboratories in the 1930s, is the variety most responsible for that identity — celebrated for its blackcurrant acidity, full body, and exceptional complexity. As a peaberry — the single, rounded bean formed when only one seed develops inside the cherry — this lot concentrates that character into something even more intense.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Kambarare involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — SL28 cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔧 Pulping — Outer skin removed before fermentation 🧪 Fermentation — Beans fermented to break down remaining mucilage 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue ☀️ Drying — Dried to optimal moisture content under Gerald's personal quality control

The combination of pure SL28 varietal separation and peaberry selection is the defining factor — by isolating both the variety and the naturally concentrated peaberry bean, Gerald and the Retro 1984 project produce a cup of exceptional intensity, building the blackcurrant and pomegranate depth and hibiscus florality that define this lot.

THE CUP

A vibrant, juicy, and deeply expressive washed SL28 Peaberry from one of Kirinyaga's most balanced farms — blackcurrant and pomegranate richness, hibiscus florality, and a dark sugar sweetness that delivers the concentrated intensity peaberries are celebrated for. Retro 1984 in its purest form.

Flavour Notes

🫐 Blackcurrant 🍎 Pomegranate 🌺 Hibiscus 🍬 Dark Sugar