Description
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Mt. Kenya, at the helm of Kenya’s Central Province, is the second tallest peak on the continent of Africa and a commanding natural presence. The mountain itself is a single point inside a vast and surreal thicket of ascending national forest and active game protection communities. The central counties of Kenya extend from the center of the national park, like five irregular pie slices, with their points meeting at the peak of the mountain. It is along the lower edge of these forests where, in wet, high elevation communities with mineral-rich soil (Mt. Kenya is a stratovolcano) many believe the best coffees in Kenya, often the world, are crafted.
Nyeri is perhaps the most well-known of these central counties, and sits between Mt. Kenya to the north, and the Aberdare mountain range to the West, whose combined climates provide cool air, ample groundwater, and reliable precipitation throughout the year, allowing coffee to be comfortably grown at high altitudes and supporting fully-washed processing throughout the region. Kenya’s coffee is dominated by a cooperative system of production, whose members vote on representation, marketing and milling contracts for their coffee, as well as profit allocation.
Gikanda Farmers Cooperative Society, the umbrella organization that includes Gichathaini factory, is one of Kenya’s best-known Nyeri groups for annual quality. The society includes only 3 factories, all of which are located close to the town of Karatina. Gichathaini’s farmer members, as is common throughout Kenya, tend very small, diversified personal plots averaging 1 acre apiece, and typically including only about 200 trees. Water for processing at Gichathaini is drawn from the nearby Ragati river and is re-circulated throughout the various processing steps as cleanliness allows for conservation.
Tasting Notes: Tasty from light to dark; clean, rich and on the brighter side. Although still considered a higher acidity, stronger cup, this offering is mellower than the AA lot we brought in at the same time. Our favorite roast was on the lighter side but held up well throughout all the roast level tasting.
Lighter roasts are more lemony and floral with hints of a darker herbal tone in the aftertaste. A bit of nutty/caramel if you nail the roast right with a little setup. Not as front loaded as the AA at light roasts, pulls better balance.
Medium roasts are smooth and creamier, still noticable acidity but more in the background. Good body to the cup with rich semi-sweet chocolate tones that fade a bit into a green tea like spice note. Detected a hint of soft fruit as the cup cooled
Dark roast are a very dark toned cup, low acidity with strong semi-sweet smoky & malty tones. A bit of herbal can still be found but more muted than the light-medium roast levels.
Roasting Notes: To see this cup shine, one has to keep it before 2nd crack. An easy to roast bean, even roasting with medium to low chaff. Does have some acidity, so if you drink it within 12-24 hours after roasting, a definite noticeable lemony sour tone upfront. With some extra setup it becomes very smooth and less soury at those lighter roast points.
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