Kenya — Mbature Family Kamavindi Estate SL34 Peaberry (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🫐 Red Currant • 🫐 Blackberry • 🌹 Rosehip • 🍬 Raw Sugar

DETAILS

• Producer: Mbature Family
• Farm: Kamavindi Estate
• Region: Embu, Kenya
• Varietal: SL34 Peaberry
• Process: Washed (Slow Indoor Drying)
• Altitude: 1,680 MASL

INTRO

The first release from the new harvest at Kamavindi Estate — one of Mazelab's favourite farms in Kenya, and a lot made even more special by being SL34 Peaberry. Following a return visit to check on a new slow drying indoor room — a dark room concept suggested by Jackie to dry the coffee more gently and preserve clarity, sweetness, and structure — this lot is juicy, structured, complex, and deeply expressive. A beautiful Kenya in exactly the style Mazelab love most. In the cup: red currant, blackberry, rosehip, and raw sugar.

THE PRODUCER

Kamavindi Estate is run by the Mbature family in Embu, on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya — a region celebrated for its rich volcanic soils and the structured, fruit-forward profiles its SL varieties consistently produce. At the end of last year, Mazelab began working with the family on a new project: a slow drying indoor room, designed to dry coffee more gently than conventional open-air raised beds and preserve greater clarity, sweetness, and structure in the cup. This year's visit confirmed the project continues to develop well.

This particular lot is SL34 Peaberry — the naturally occurring single, rounded bean that forms when only one seed develops inside the cherry rather than the usual two. Peaberries are prized for their concentrated sweetness and vibrant character, a quality this lot demonstrates beautifully.

THE PROCESS

The Washed Slow Indoor Drying process at Kamavindi Estate involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — SL34 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 🌑 Slow indoor drying — Dried in a new dark, slow-drying indoor room, allowing the coffee to dry more gently than conventional raised-bed methods

The slow indoor drying is the defining step — by drying in a controlled, dark indoor environment rather than under direct sun, the coffee dries more gently and evenly, preserving exceptional clarity, sweetness, and structure that might otherwise be lost to faster, more variable outdoor drying.

THE CUP

A juicy, structured, and deeply expressive washed SL34 Peaberry from one of Embu's most exciting ongoing farm collaborations — red currant and blackberry depth, a delicate rosehip florality, and a raw sugar sweetness that ties the cup together beautifully. Kenya at its most concentrated and vibrant.

Flavour Notes

🫐 Red Currant 🫐 Blackberry 🌹 Rosehip 🍬 Raw Sugar