Kenya: Nyeri Peaberry

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TASTING NOTES:
Peach, Lemon, White Honey
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FINISH:
Vanilla
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ROAST LEVEL:
Light-Medium
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SWEETNESS:
High (Vanilla)
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ACIDITY:
High (Meyer Lemon)
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BODY:
Medium (Juicy)
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DESCRIPTION:
Peach, Meyer lemon, and pleasant herbal bitterness mixed with caramel and vanilla notes. This is a new offering from the Nyeri region in Kenya, replacing last year's lot, and we find that it represents the classic Kenya Washed Peaberry profile.

GROW REGION:
This Kenya Peaberry lot was produced by smallholder farmers in Nyeri County on the slopes of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare Range, one of Kenya's most recognized coffee-growing regions, at elevations ranging between 1,700–2,000 masl. The coffee was sourced through the Othaya Farmers Cooperative Society, a long-established cooperative founded in the 1950s that now represents approximately 14,000–15,000 producers across multiple factories in the region, such as Ichamama, Mahiga, Rukira, Kamoini, Chinga, and Gatugi.

HARVEST PROCESS:
Kenya's wet processing method involves removing the cherry's skin and mucilage through pulping and water-based fermentation to create a bright, clean, and fruity cup, using Batian, SL28, SL34, and Ruiru 11 varietals. After pulping, the beans ferment in water for 12–36 hours to break down the sticky, sugary mucilage layer. The beans are then thoroughly washed and slowly sun-dried on raised beds to develop the distinct, flavorful, high-quality coffee Kenya is known for.
This is a Peaberry outturn, which occurs when one of the two embryos that typically grow inside a coffee cherry fails to germinate, leaving only one seed to develop and grow into a small, rounded coffee bean. Peaberries can taste a little different than their flat bean counterparts, though this is not always the case.