New coffees from Kenya & El Salvador
Nylon Coffee Roasters
Kicking off the 2nd quarter of 2017, we have rolled out 2 new coffees. First up is Kagumoini AA from the Nyeri region of Kenya. This coffee is named after the coffee factory, which handles the post harvest processing. The Kagumoini coffee factory belongs to the Kamacharia Farmers Cooperative Society. The farmers are very active, maximising their production by following training in Good Agricultural practices, with application of manure and inputs when required. The society is made up of approximately 800 smallholders growing mainly SL28, with a small amount of Batian and Ruiru 11 varieties.
There are a lot of competition in Nyeri. Many of the farmers are surrounded by several wetmills. They are free to choose where they want to deliver their cherries as members. Due to the traditional auction system in Kenya, quality is rewarded with higher prices. The better factories will then attract more farmers by producing coffee getting the highest prices, as well as giving high payback rate to the farmers. This can in some cases be about 90% of the sales price after deducting the cost of marketing and preparation.
Wetmill: Kagumoini Factory
Region: Nyeri
Varietal: Mainly SL 28, some Batian and Ruiru 11
Altitude: 1750 masl
Processing: Cherries are hand sorted for unripes and overripes by the farmers before they go in to production. A 4-disc Agaarde pulping machine removes the skin and pulp. The coffees are graded by density in to 3 grades by the pulper. Grade 1 and 2 go separately to fermentation. Grade 3 is considered low grade. The coffee is fermented for 16-24 hours under closed shade. After fermentation the coffees are washed and again graded by density in washing channels and are then soaked under clean water for 16-18 hours. Then the coffees are sun-dried up to 21 days on African drying beds which are covered in plastic during midday and at night.
Kagumoini is a reflection of a juicy cup of Kenyan coffee, bursting with notes of currants and prunes. It has cane sugar-like sweetness that balances its front-loaded fruitiness.
The second coffee is from a familiar name from our dear friends at Cafe Tuxpal. Finca San Jose has been featured at Nylon for the 4th year in a row. Back in December, we had a coffee from this farm which was a honey-processed coffee. Many enjoyed this coffee as an espresso for its sweetness, balance and mouthfeel. We are now roasting the washed process lot of the same coffee. There are some differences in the flavour notes resulting from the processing method. In the washed lot, we taste more cherries and black grapes, whereas in the honey processed lot, it was predominantly dried fruits. However, both coffees exhibit balance and sweetness, which is why we always enjoy coffees from this farm.
Farm: Finca San Jose
Producer: The Pacas family
Region: Sonsonate, El Salvador
Wet/Dry mill: Beneficio Tuxpal
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Altitude: 1379 - 1645 masl
Processing: Washed
Both coffees are available in-store or on web.
Photo credit: Cafe Imports