TRADITIONAL
Nº 301 Kenya Asali
Country: Kenya
Process: Washed
Grown / Region: Nyeri
Altitude: 1550m - 1800m
Varietals: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11
Producers: Smallholders
Tasting Notes: Treacle, Blackcurrant, Warm Spice
Roast Level: Dark 5/5
A classic Kenyan coffee, with dominant fruit flavours of blackcurrant and citrus balanced by an intense treacle-like sweetness. Kenyan processing is uniquely focussed on the wet fermentation, and it's thought that this is what gives the region its great reputation for consistency. This coffee’s density can make for difficult roasting, so careful management of the heat towards the end of the roast is essential for good flavour development and a sweet balanced result.
DISCOVERY
Nº 294 Mexico Terruño Nayarita
Country: Mexico
Process: Natural
Grown / Region: El Cuarenteño, Naryarit
Altitude: 900m - 1400m
Varietals: Mundo Novo, Caturra
Producers: Altamirano family
Tasting Notes: Milk Chocolate, Raspberry, Light Caramel
Roast Level: Medium 3/5
Farm Notes:This coffee is grown on community land around the town of El Cuarenteño, Western Mexico. The area is part of a system of shared land ownership called Ejidos. Unique to Mexico, this system enables rural farmers to utilize and profit from an allotted piece of land. They can indefinitely benefit from the land and pass this right onto their children. However, the land is ultimately owned by the state.
The farmers deliver their coffee to the El Rustico wet mill who process this particular lot using the natural process. The coffee cherries are dried with the fruit pulp and skins intact on patios, where they are raked and turned to insure even drying. Once dried, the coffee is rested in parchment (the dried husk around the coffee bean), before being milled and exported.
This coffee is grown on community land around the town of El Cuarenteño, Western Mexico. Farmers deliver their coffee to the local mill who process and sell the coffee in international markets.
The natural process used here gives the coffee a distinct red berry fruit note and a milk chocolate flavour that makes it a little unusual, but still very accessible and easy drinking.
