Sigma Coffee Kenya, Ethiopia & Colombia Discovery

Kenya — Thirikwa Farmers' Cooperative Society Gakuyuini AA (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍇 Red Currants • 🍈 Pomelo • 🍵 Black Tea

DETAILS

• Producer: Thirikwa Farmers' Cooperative Society
• Region: Kirinyaga, Kenya
• Varietal: SL-28, SL-34, Ruiru 11, Batian
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,572 masl

INTRO From the hills of Kirinyaga, Kenya — grown by 3,700 dedicated smallholder farmers through the Thirikwa Farmers' Cooperative Society. Harvested during the fly crop season, each cherry is hand-sorted and slowly dried to highlight its vibrant character. Red currant and pomelo lead, with a black tea depth running through. In the cup: red currants, pomelo, and black tea.

THE PRODUCER This lot is grown by 3,700 smallholder farmers organised under the Thirikwa Farmers' Cooperative Society in Kirinyaga. Every sip supports this farmer-owned cooperative's commitment to quality, sustainability, and thriving local communities.

THE PROCESS This lot is Washed, a method that removes the fruit before fermentation and drying — cherries are hand-sorted and slowly dried to highlight the cooperative's naturally vibrant, juicy character, building the red currant and pomelo brightness that define this cup.

THE CUP Clean and juicy — red currant and pomelo brightness up front, with a deep, sweet black tea finish. A reliable, community-driven expression of Kirinyaga's classic profile.

Flavour Notes 🍇 Red Currants 🍈 Pomelo 🍵 Black Tea

Colombia — Café Granja La Esperanza Las Margaritas Red Bourbon (Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍒 Cherry • 🍎 Red Apple • 🌹 Rose

DETAILS

• Producer: Café Granja La Esperanza
• Farm: Las Margaritas
• Region: Valle del Cauca, Colombia
• Varietal: Red Bourbon
• Process: Honey
• Altitude: 1,860 masl

INTRO A classic honey process from Las Margaritas — a world-famous farm that's produced some of Colombia's best coffees for nearly two decades. The perfect balance of sweetness and character, with clean, delicate varietal traits preserved by the honey process. Waves of sweet cherry give way to red apple, with delicate pink rose lingering through the aftertaste. In the cup: cherry, red apple, and rose.

THE PRODUCER Las Margaritas has featured on both the World Barista Championship and World Brewers Cup finals stages, used by competitors reading like a who's-who of coffee — Lex Wenneker, Lance Hendrik, Andrea Allen, and as far back as Charles Babinski. The farm employs some of the most highly skilled agronomists in the industry and runs dedicated research facilities pushing the boundaries of processing and varietal research, not just in Colombia, but globally.

THE PROCESS This lot is a classic Honey process — cherries are pulped and dried with mucilage intact, preserving clean, delicate varietal character while adding sweetness and complexity from fermentation.

This classic honey approach is the defining detail — rather than reaching for experimental or advanced fermentation, this lot highlights the Bourbon varietal's natural sweetness through rock-solid processing fundamentals, building the cherry, apple, and rose character that define this cup.

THE CUP Balanced and sweet — waves of sweet cherry give way to red apple, with delicate pink rose florality lingering through the aftertaste. A classic that stands the test of time, proof that care and attention can elevate something simple far beyond expectation.

Flavour Notes 🍒 Cherry 🍎 Red Apple 🌹 Rose

An exemplary Pink Bourbon from Onyx’s partners at Equation Coffee, grown by Yulieth Mora in Cauca, Colombia. Delicate florals and bright, honeyed acidity make this lot particularly well-suited for filter brewing.

Onyx continues to rely on a wide network of producers across Colombia, and this microlot captures everything that makes the region special - clarity, sweetness, and varietal expression.

This coffee comes via Onyx’s long-standing partners at Equation Coffee. Each season, samples arrive from their network of producers — and from there, Onyx builds regional blends and isolates standout farm-level lots.

This particular coffee, grown by Yulieth Mora in Cauca, was immediately flagged during cupping and separated as a single origin release. A Pink Bourbon microlot with clarity, structure, and sweetness - a result of both terroir and variety.

While Pink Bourbon is now cultivated globally, Onyx continues to prefer expressions from Huila and Inzá for their bright, sugary profiles and light confectionary tones. More on the variety below.

What is the roast recency?

Onyx recommend brewing with beans that are at least two weeks off roast. All beans are roasted to peak flavour at around 8-12 weeks. We have the option to either purchase standard beans (at least 2 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks off roast), or rested beans (at least 7 weeks off roast, no longer than 12). For peak flavour, if you are looking to use immediately, we recommend purchasing the rested beans. If you are adding to your rotation of beans, we recommend purchasing the standard and allowing the beans to naturally rest and mature whilst you rotate through other beans.

Kenya — Karatu Coffee Factory SL-28 Peaberry (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍦 Vanilla • 🪴 Tobacco • 🍒 Dried Cherry

DETAILS

• Factory: Karatu Coffee Factory
• Region: Gatundu, Kiambu (Thika District), Kenya
• Varietal: SL-28 (90%+) & Various
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 1,850 masl
• Harvest: November 2025
• Lot: Peaberry

INTRO A well-balanced Kenyan peaberry, offered specifically as a coffee that isn't overwhelming with acidity while still holding a solid structure and a weighted, tea-like intricacy. Vanilla and dried cherry sweetness sit alongside a tobacco depth, with cacao, black cherry, melon, and soft citrus sugar notes rounding out the cup. In the cup: vanilla, tobacco, and dried cherry.

THE PRODUCER Karatu Coffee Factory sits in Central Province, Thika District, in the Ndarugu location of Gatundu Division near Gatundu town. Established in 1965 on 11 acres, it serves the Karatu, Gitwe, Kibiru, and Kigaa villages, where banana and maize grow alongside coffee, with grevillea and macadamia trees providing shade. In line with growing environmental awareness, the factory has relocated its waste water pits away from the water source, allowing waste water to soak back into the soil, and encourages members to plant trees on their farms.

This lot is peaberry — a natural occurrence where the coffee cherry produces just one seed instead of the usual two. An estimated 90%+ of this lot is SL-28, a prized variety known for its big fruit character, resilience, and juicy profile, genetically traced back to the Bourbon lineage of Coffea Arabica.

THE PROCESS After harvest, cherry is weighed at the factory, with smallholder farmers paid on the spot. The cherry passes through a disk de-pulper to remove most of the fruit, ferments for 24 hours, then is washed once more, bringing the total process to 72 hours. Drying on parchment takes anywhere from one to fifteen days, depending on climate and volume.

The peaberry separation is the defining detail here — isolating this naturally occurring single-seed lot is what gives the cup its distinct weighted, tea-like structure alongside the vanilla and dried cherry character.

THE CUP Balanced and structured — vanilla and dried cherry sweetness up front, a tobacco depth running through, with cacao, black cherry, melon, and soft citrus sugar notes rounding things out. A fun, well-balanced Kenyan peaberry suited to both immersion and filter brewing.

Flavour Notes 🍦 Vanilla 🪴 Tobacco 🍒 Dried Cherry

Ethiopia — Tadesse Hanka Bombe Krume 74158 (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍑 Peach • 🍑 Yellow Plum • 🍊 Mandarin Orange

DETAILS

• Producer: Tadesse Hanka
• Region: Bombe, Bensa, Sidama, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Krume 74158
• Process: Natural
• Roast: Filter

INTRO

From Tadesse Hanka in Bombe — a naturally processed Krume 74158 from one of Sidama's most celebrated and intensely farmed mountain communities. High sweetness, medium body and acidity, with a warm stone fruit and citrus profile that speaks of exceptional cherry quality and careful natural drying. In the cup: peach, yellow plum, and mandarin orange.

THE PRODUCER

Tadesse Hanka farms in Bombe — a village in the Bensa district of Sidama that takes its name from the mountains surrounding it, and one of Ethiopia's most celebrated specialty coffee communities. The Bombe mountains provide exceptional growing conditions: extreme altitude, rich volcanic soils, and the cool, misty microclimate that characterises this part of southern Ethiopia's highland growing landscape. Cherry here develops slowly and concentrates sugars and aromatic compounds to an exceptional degree.

The Krume 74158 varietal — developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre and selected for its disease resistance and quality potential at altitude — reaches a particularly expressive form under natural processing in Bombe's conditions. April Coffee Roasters also purchase Tadesse's washed Krume lot, making this natural expression a compelling counterpart — revealing a warmer, sweeter dimension of the same exceptional terroir.

THE PROCESS

The Natural process involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Krume 74158 cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔍 Sorting — Carefully sorted before drying to ensure only the finest ripe cherries proceed ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Whole cherries dried on raised beds, turned regularly to ensure even drying throughout

The raised-bed natural drying is the defining step — the beans rest inside the intact cherry throughout the drying period, slowly absorbing the fruit's sugars and aromatic compounds, developing the peach and yellow plum stone fruit sweetness and mandarin orange brightness that define this lot with exceptional warmth and clarity.

THE CUP

A warm, sweet, and beautifully expressive natural Krume 74158 from one of Sidama's most celebrated mountain growing communities — peach and yellow plum stone fruit warmth, and a bright mandarin orange finish in a high-sweetness cup of medium body and medium acidity. Tadesse Hanka's Bombe terroir, revealed through the natural process.

Flavour Notes

🍑 Peach 🍑 Yellow Plum 🍊 Mandarin Orange