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Kenya

Ichamara

Flavours of blackberries, orange, creamy mouthfeel
Body     Acidity

Roasted omni for filter and espresso

We’re excited to return to Kenya with this coffee from Nyeri, one of our favourite regions in the country.

This coffee is the SL-28 varietal, which is quite common to see on farms in Kenya. It’s been present in our past Brew Crew coffees from Kenya, though this is the first time it’s been in a harvest without other varietals also being in the crop.

The SL stands for Scott Labs, who were commissioned in the 1930s by the Kenyan government to survey and catalog all the different varietals that existed in Kenya to find the ones best suited to commercial farming. In particular, the government was looking for a coffee varietal that showed strong resistance to drought and produced a high yield of coffee cherries.

The two strains that were selected were SL-34 and the varietal in this release: SL-28.

The SL-28 didn’t turn out to have particularly high yield, but what it does bring is big, complex delicious flavours.

Serious Eats has more on the story of this varietal.

Nyeri County

Nyeri County is between the eastern base of the Aberdare (Nyandarua) Range and the western slopes of Mt Kenya.

The cool temperatures and red volcanic soils combined with the altitude (around 1,700m above sea level) mean coffee develops slowly, producing relatively small crops of intensely flavoured beans.

Most of the coffee is grown as small family plots alongside the homes, located on the slopes and upper plateau. The main harvest months are from October to January.

Kenya’s coffee production is made up of smallholder coffee farms, large estates and small estates. There are over 700,000 smallholders who make up about 55% of the Kenya’s production.

Smallholders are organized in to cooperative societies, which act as umbrella organisations for the factories (also known as wetmills) where these producers deliver their coffee crops for processing.

There can be several factories in an area which farmers are free to choose to deliver their cherry. Due to the traditional auction system in Kenya, quality is rewarded with higher prices. Better factories attract more farmers by producing coffee that fetches the highest prices, in turn giving higher returns to the farmers.

AA-grade

Ichamara is a Kenyan AA grade coffee.

Different parts of the world have different ways of categorising beans, usually to indicate either size of quality. In Colombia the letters A, AA, and AAA represent quality grades.

But in the African and Indian coffee trade, AA and AB refer to the size of the bean. AA coffee beans, such as the ones in this delivery, are over 7.2mm in size and generally fetch the highest price at auction in Kenya. Beans graded AB are slightly smaller, at least 6.8mm in size and will get the second highest price.

Beans are sorted using numbered screens with holes of a uniform size, so farmers, exporters and roasters can all use the same terminology to describe things. AA is screen 17 and 18; whereas AB beans are screen 15 and 16. Tom at Sweet Maria’s in Oakland has a blog post about screen tests with photos of how a simple screen setup works.

 

All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Silo, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Resting beans inside the sealed bag helps develop peak flavours and acidity

Learn how long and why you should wait in our brewing window recommendations.

Try our step-by-step recipes and videos

Our recipes are easy to follow and designed to bring the best out of our coffee. Find your favourite method on our brew guides collection or test a new one—and if you have any questions, ask us anytime at [email protected].

Producer

Gikaru Farmers Cooperative Society

Country

Kenya

Region

Nyeri

Varietals

SL28

Process

Washed

Harvested

December 2015

Body

Medium

Acidity

Bright

Roast style

Omniroast

Map showing location of Kenya Ichamara

Varietals

SL28 varietal

SL28 was developed in 1931 by Scott Laboratories to suit the growing conditions in Kenya. The varietal is known for its exceptional cup quality

The location

Coffee from Kenya

Alongside Ethiopia and Colombia, Kenya is one of the origins we get most excited about at the roastery. It exports some of the most vibrant, bright, and unique coffees in the world.


The Nyeri region of Kenya

Central region home to Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano that produces rich, red soil. Most commonly smallholder cooperatives. Coffee trees in this region produce two crops (the main harvest producing the higher quality lots)

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.

Coffee delivery: coffee in resealable bag and farm information card

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