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Beans: Steans Beans, Mbili, Red Bourbon, Fully Washed, Nyakabuye, Rwanda.
Shop: Steans Beans, Webshop, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Steans Beans: Background information.
Steans Beans is the coffee company founded by Kenyan Stean Fasol. Stean has always been passionate about Africa, the region, its people and its coffee. Since 2015, he works closely with small holder coffee farmers and stakeholders in Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. While working with the farmers, he feels that he needs to take responsibility to ensure that they can continue doing what they do best; growing coffee with a lot of heart and passion. In order to do that, Stean works closely with the farmers and the washing station and makes sure that there are no brokers earning money over their backs. Stean told me that he has big plans for the farmers in Rwanda. He wants to introduce electronic payments for the coffee directly to the farmers and a sort of guest house at the washing station so that clients can come and see where the coffee is grown, harvested and processed.
The farmers in Rwanda are growing the coffee fully organic and it’s a shame that the farmers cannot present themselves as organic farmers because of the lack of funds to acquire said certificate. This, however, doesn’t stop Stean from encouraging the farmers to stay organic. He himself sets a great example by roasting the coffee on a Loring roaster at Gosling Coffee in Amsterdam. This is probably the ‘greenest’ roaster out there and delivers great results.
This coffee is grown in the Nyakabuye region in Rwanda. 200 smallholders contribute to this coffee and it is washed at the Liza washing station. All this transpires at an altitude of 1700 meters above sea level.
Steans Beans – Mbili: Opening the package.
Steans Beans stays true to it’s origin, East Africa, and it shows on the label. The colorfull art depicts a traditional East African style of colours and forms. On the front of the package you will find the roasting date, the tasting notes, a QR-code that will bring you to the website and some background information on the roaster. Turning the package around will present you with more information. Here you will find information about the Mbili coffee as well as information about the producer, washing station, variety, altitude, processing and cupping score. Steans coffee is Q-graded by several Q-graders in order to get the cupping score.
When you open the package, you will find that the beans are nicely roasted and equal in colour. The beans are crunchy and give off a bit dark cocoa flavour when eating one. When grinding the coffee, you will find aroma’s of mixed nuts, wholegrain cookie and a mixture of spices. It’s time to brew!
The tasting.
I brewed the Mbili on the Rocket Giotto Evoluzione R with a naked portafilter. I’m using a Eureka Atom Specialty 75 grinder to grind the coffee.
This coffee gives off a nice thick marbled brown brew. The aroma’s of the coffee can easily be detected on the coffee. Sweet thick honey, spring green leaves, a hint of white blossom and the best aroma of all…moist Carrot Cake. This aroma took me a while to decipher and this is the first time I’m smelling this.
When taking a sip of this coffee you will find the flavour of wholegrain cookie first. The coffee feels thick, buttery and savoury at first. As soon as you swirl the espresso round in your mouth, there is a cocoa flavour popping up, this is found in the back of your mouth. Notice how the coffee acquires a sweet/salty aspect now. This mixes nicely with the cookie and cocoa flavour and brings back the honey flavour in the cup.
Perhaps the best part of this coffee is when you swallow it. All the flavours combine and because of the sweet/salty aspect, you will notice how this coffee keeps pulling saliva from the glands in your mouth. The acidity in this coffee is medium to high and reminds me of freshly squeezed orange juice at first, and more towards a grapefruit acidity in the aftertaste.
As a Latte based drink, this coffee is perfect. The dark colour makes for great Latte art and the cocoa flavour is what mixes nicely with the milk.
Steans Beans – Mbili: The verdict.
The Mbili from Steans Beans is a nicely roasted espresso coffee that’s perfect for everyday use. The coffee has some nice flavours that mix well. The cocoa, wholegrain cookie and dark honey give this espresso enough body and depth to enjoy it as an espresso and as a Latte based drink. I loved how the moist carrot cake aroma came forth on the nose after brewing. The best part of this coffee is what happens after swallowing. The mouthfeel, acidity and aftertaste make it enjoyable even after finishing your cup. Looking at the price of this coffee, this is definitely a good choice to have on your grinder for all day-every day use.
Here is a link to the webpage of this coffee. The link is a courtesy to Steans Beans and I make no money out of it.