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Beans: Githiga PB, Ruiru 11, SL28, Washed, Muranga, Kenya.
Shop: Coffea Circulor, Gothenborg, Sweden, Norway.
Coffea Circulor – Githiga PB: Background information.
Coffea Circulor, the roaster behind the Githiga PB, is an international team of coffee professionals that, through inspiration, innovation and environmental care, wants to bring coffee to the public all over the world. Founded in 2010, Coffea Circulor has won many prizes including the Norwegian roasting championships in 2014. Founder Ivica Cvetanovski is a renowned coach to many prize winners such as Rubens Gardelli and Audun Sorbotten. Coffea Circulor has made it their mission to ensure that the planet understands, values and protects coffee in all it’s facets. But lets take a look at the coffee at hand!
This washed Kenya Githiga PB comes from the muranga region. The coffee was processed at the Githiga Wet Mill in the settlement of Kangema, one of two wet mills led by the Kanyenyaini Farmers Cooperative Society, Murang’a County. The Kanyenyaini FCS has been established and operating since 1953. After under ripe and over ripe cherries are sorted out the red ripe cherries are wet processed utilizing clean water from the Githiga stream before being sun dried and sent to the dry mill.
The coffee is dried on raised beds for between 14-21 days. A dry mill furthermore removes the parchment surrounding the bean. This particular coffee is a Peaberry which means that each cherry only has one bean inside. To some, the Peaberry is considered the ‘pearl’ of the coffee beans.
Githiga PB – Opening the package:
Once in a while you get a package that’s just like a piece of art. Coffea Circulor is one of those roasters that put a lot of effort into the design of the package. Obviously there is a ziplock and a degassing valve on the package to keep it as fresh as possible. Looking at the package, it isn’t weird that perhaps you didn’t even notice that. The ‘angel’ design on the front depicts a woman/goddess surrounded by coffee plants and holding coffee cherries in her hand. The way it’s designed makes it look as if she is offering the coffee to you personally. Next up is the information on the package. There is a lot of information, A LOT! But all of it will help you understand and brew the coffee better.
Information on the label.
On the package of the Githiga PB you will find information on the name, country and farmer. On the left side of the label you will find information on the region, altitude, varietal, process, lot size and trade. On the right side of the label there is a lot of tasting notes. Aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body and balance.
There is also a quality rating in the top right of the label, depicting the cupping score that this coffee has: 90.25pts.
On the backside of the coffee you will find a lot of information about Coffea Circulor’s values, mission, contribution and even brewing and water recommendations. Way to go Coffea Circulor!!
Inside the package.
When opening the package you will get a savoury aroma at first, but as the aroma flows into your nose, this will change into a fruity sweet aroma that has a butter-ish aspect to it. Think of a creamy, thick and soft smell much like butter. Looking inside the package you will find evenly roasted Peaberry beans. If you bite down on a bean, you will notice that the bean is hard but not crunchy. there is a salty/sweet flavour to it at first with a hint of peach and all the way in the back a bit of licorice.
During grinding there will be a savoury aroma coming up that also holds a very nice fruity black currant note. If you inhale sharply and let the aroma rush through your nose, the savoury note will become a little like powdered instant vegetable soup.
Coffea Circulor – Githiga PB: The tasting.
For this coffee I use my Eureka Brew-Pro grinder to grind the coffee. The water I used is SPA Reine. I brewed this coffee on the Hario V60, Aeropress, Gabi Master A dripper and the Siphon. The review is based on the result given by all these brews.
When brewing this coffee you will notice that there is a lot going on. When the brew is still hot, I get a superb fruity jammy black currant aroma, caramel and a floral note. When the coffee cools down a little there is a cedar wood plum and cherry note popping up. This gets better and better.
When you take a sip the first thing that you will notice is just how juicy and sweet this coffee is. The acidity is beautifully complex, but let me explain. The acidity is definitely citric but there is also a touch of alkaline acidity as well. Alkaline acidity is best recognizable by thinking of pushing your tongue against a battery. Remember the licorice note in the bean and the cedar wood note on the nose? I would like to think of those, and the alkaline acidity, all connected which makes this a very agreeable note!
When you slurp in oxygen while taking a sip, the black currant is right there together with notes of plum, lemon and a hint of grapefruit and rhubarb. The grapefruit and rhubarb can be sensed alongside your tongue in the back of your mouth. When the coffee cools down there is another surprise, namely a savory note that comes close to the green stem of a tomato plant, and I love this tomato note on a Kenya. The aftertaste lingers, and lingers and lingers. Notes of plum, black currant and a hint of the savory note complement each other very well. In your mouth you will notice how this coffee keeps on pulling saliva long after you’re done drinking. On the Aeropress the juiciness and sweetness are more profound. On the siphon I noticed that the coffee gets even more balanced but the acidity more complex (citric/alkaline).
Coffea Circulor – Githiga PB: The verdict.
Coffea Circulor has created a sublime coffee with this washed Kenyan Githiga PB. When a roaster writes down so many tasting notes on a package, it always remains the question if you will be able to find all of them in the coffee. With this Githiga PB the answer to that question is a clear ‘YES’. The acidity is great, the aroma’s clear and the flavours just keep on coming back. If it wasn’t clear on how enthusiastic I am about this coffee; it’s awesome! If you are looking for a Kenya go’s the extra mile, this is your coffee!
This is the link to the webpage of this coffee. This is a courtesy to the roaster and a non-paid link. #supportyourlocalroaster.