Kenya — Kii Factory SL-28, SL-34, Batian & Ruiru 11 (Washed, AA)

Tastes Like — 🍋 Yellow Currants • 🍊 Tropical Citrus • 🍋 Lemon

DETAILS

• Producer: Kii Factory (various smallholders)
• Region: Kirinyaga, Kenya
• Varietal: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11 & Batian
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,700–1,800 masl
• Roast Level: Light

INTRO
September's first time featuring a coffee from the Kii Factory in Kirinyaga. Silky in body with a mouthwatering acidity, reminiscent of yellow currants, tropical citrus, and lemon. In the cup: yellow currants, tropical citrus, and lemon.

THE PRODUCER
This lot comes from the Kii Factory in Kirinyaga, Kenya, at 1,700–1,800 masl, from various smallholder farmers.

SL-28 is among the best-known and best-regarded varieties of Africa, originally selected in Kenya in the 1930s, suited to medium to high altitudes and drought-resistant but susceptible to the major coffee diseases. It's notable for its rusticity: it can be left untended for years or decades and then return to successful production, with 60–80-year-old trees still productive in Kenya. Batian, released in 2010, is a composite variety resistant to coffee leaf rust and coffee berry disease, created at the Coffee Research Station in Ruiru.

THE PROCESS
A disc pulper removes the skin and pulp from freshly harvested cherries, and the coffee is separated by density into three grades. The selected coffees undergo a traditional fermentation of 8 to 12 hours, after which the parchment is thoroughly washed and soaked for an additional 16 to 18 hours in fresh, clean water. It's then sun-dried for 8 to 14 days on raised beds.

The extended clean-water soak after fermentation is the defining step. It's what builds the clean, mouthwatering acidity and silky body behind the yellow currant and lemon character.

THE CUP
Tart, sweet, and juicy: yellow currants lead, with a juicy tropical acidity and a mouthwatering fresh lemon finish. Silky body throughout.

Flavour Notes
🍋 Yellow Currants 🍊 Tropical Citrus 🍋 Lemon