Kii AA 250g

Kii AA 250g

Kii AA 250g

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We just love coffee from Kenya and are thrilled with this delicious offering from the Kii Factory, packed with topical tones. Some 1,200 small scale farmers contribute to this particular lot, each owning less than half a hectare each.

Expect a bright and crisp front end acidity, a sweet prune flavour with floral tones, and a bittersweet grapefruit finish. 

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In the cup . . .

We picked out the following flavours in this coffee. Your brewing method, the quality of your grinder and the type of water used can all have an impact on these flavours.

Floral

A sweet, light, slightly fragrant aromatic associated with fresh flowers.

Prune

The sweet, slightly brown, floral, musty and overripe aromatic impression of dark fruit associated with dried plums.

Grapefruit

The citric, sour, bitter, astringent, peely, sharp, slightly sweet aromatic associated with grapefruit.

Kii AA

Our seasonal coffees each come with their own story, which is part of what makes them so special. Here we take a closer look at the producers of this coffee.

The Farms

This coffee was produced by smallholder farmers belonging to the Rung’eto Farmers Cooperative Society. These farms overlook the famous elephant migration route that connects Aberdare and Mt. Kenya Forest. Along with elephants, there are many other wild animals such as buffaloes, antelopes and monkeys in the area. These, as well as many others, often find their way onto the farms to graze on the grassland or chew on the sweet coffee berries.

Farmers, though very small scale, pay stringent attention to cultivation methods and regularly apply compost and farmyard manure to ensure soil fertility. Inorganic fertilisers are applied less frequently, though are often necessary throughout the year.

The Facts

Varietals: SL28, SL34 and Ruiru 11
Processing: Wet processed and sun dried
Altitude: 1,600 to 1,900 metres

The Varietals

In addition to the wide-spread SL28 and SL34, this lot contains some Ruiru 11. Ruiru 11 is named for the station at Ruiru, Kenya where it was developed in the '70s and released in 1986. The varietal is slowly becoming more widespread in the region due to its resistance to Coffee Berry Disease and Coffee Leaf Rust and has both been backcrossed with SL28 and SL34 to ensure high cup quality.

Harvesting & Processing

Farmers selectively handpick the ripest, reddest cherries, which are then delivered to the cooperative’s wet mill on the same day. All farms delivering to the wet mill are located within a 3 mile radius and deliver to the mill via a variety of methods – including motorbike, wheelbarrow and bicycle! Cherries are hand sorted prior to pulping, with damaged and under ripe cherries being separated out from the red, ripe lots, and are further defined into lots according to quality. After pulping the coffee is fermented for between 16 and 24 hours. After fermentation, the coffee is washed in clean, fresh water to remove all traces of mucilage before being delivered through sorting channels to dry on raised beds.

While it is drying, parchment coffee is sorted again to remove any discoloured or damaged beans. When it achieves optimal humidity, the parchment coffee is then delivered to the dry mill where it is given an ‘outrun’ number, defining it by the week in that season, the dry mill and the delivery number for that week.

Screen Sizing in Kenya

The AA, AB and other grades used to classify lots in Kenya are an indication of screen size only. They are not any indication of cup quality. The AA grade in Kenya is equivalent to screen size 17 or 18 (17/64 or 18/64 of an inch) used at other origins. AA grades often command higher prices at auction though this grade is no indication of cup quality and an AB lot from a better farm may cup better.

sourcing coffee

Our Coffee Broker

For over ten years we have worked closely with Mercanta. They pay a fair price for coffee, empowering the growers they work with. Such is our faith in their commitment to supporting farmers that we now purchase 100% of our coffee through Mercanta.
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