Artisan Roast: Kenya, Kiganjo, Peaberry, Washed

Driving north from Nairobi the fields of Central Kenya are a criss-cross of family smallholdings where coffee, tea and vegetables are grown in the red soils of the high East African savanna lands. When it comes to coffee growing, the smallholders group into local co-operatives, usually set up so one umbrella co-operative has a number of smaller processing stations (called factories) that do the work of collecting ripe coffee and processing it ready for sale at the national auction. This is very much the case with Kiganjo which produces coffee for the larger Thiririka FCS in the heart of Kiambu county.

Once sold at auction, Kenya is one of the few countries in the coffee world that actively separates off its round peaberries from the rest of the crop. These beans are round because they form as a single seed in the cherry and being different in size and shape, they roast in a unique way too. This helps to create coffees that are quintessentially Kenyan but with a twist.

Flavour wise, peaberries still retain all the classic flavour characteristics of Kenyan coffee. The rounder shape usually leads to a more balanced acidity when compared to large AA grades and this is the case with Kiganjo. Complex and phosphoric like, this medium intensity acidity works harmoniously with the main flavours of orange citrus, blackcurrant and butterscotch toffee. These fruit-like flavours lead onto a sugar syrup like mouthfeel and Further flavours of cola, vanilla and raspberry.

We are recommending Kiganjo is best drunk black and as a filter or french press to bring our it's refinement and expressive nature. It will work in other brew methods .... if you can control temperature parameters on your espresso machine to reign in the acidity it will make a truly delicious single origin shot.