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Beans: Mukima, SL28, Sl 34, Ruiru 11, washed, Kirinyaga, Kenia.
Shop: Independent Coffee Roasters, Sittard, The Netherlands.
Independent Coffee Roasters: background information.
Sebastiaan van der Lee & Laurent L’Ortye are the two driving forces behind independent coffee roasters and the Kenya Mukima. After years of experience at various coffee roasters in the region, and extensive experience in the Dutch Coffee Competition scene, they decided to put their passion into a company. Located at the Steenweg in Sittard, Sebastiaan and Laurent were able to join their partner, Generation Coffee, in this coffee adventure. This will allow people to get in touch with the beautiful machines & technical support that Generation Coffee offers, as well as to provide a broad platform through joint effort.
The majority of coffee from Kenya comes from cooperatives and washing stations. This Peaberry Plus coffee comes from the Kirinyaga district, which is located on the slopes of Mount Kenya. The Kirinyaga district is know for it’s high quality coffees that are famous around the world. Producer Josra grown this coffee on an altitude between 1600 and 1700 meters above sealevel. This coffee is washed, then sun-dried on so-called “African Beds”.
This entire selection of varieties consists of so-called Peaberry beans. These beans can be recognized by their special shape. A peaberry grows just one bean in the cherry, where regular beans grow in pairs in a cherry. This results in coffee beans that contain a lot of flavours and aroma’s in high concentrations.
Independent Coffee Roasters: Opening the package.
Independent Coffee Roasters prodive their coffee in beige paper bags that have a degassing valve and ziplock to keep the coffee as fresh as possible. On the front of the package you will find a label with the name and logo of the company. Underneath you will find information on the origin, name, roast type, tasting notes, roasting date, and a short description about the tasting notes.
Opening the package will give a soft aroma of tomato and black tea. Looking inside the package you will find nice equally roasted peaberry beans. The flavour of the bean is that of black tea, a soft bitter that gradually becomes stronger. The after taste is sweet and hints towards berries. When grinding the coffee you will already smell what this coffee is all ab out: tomato.
Kenya Mukima: The tasting.
I reviewed the coffee on the V60, Aeropress and Siphon. The V60 has the best results in terms of flavours and aromas. I love the tomato aspect of this coffee so much that I really went for the brewing method that brings that out the most.
When brewing the coffee you will immediately notice the tomato soup aspect that is mixed with a blackberry note. When you pour the coffee into a glass, the coffee opens up completely and offers a lot. When the coffee is hot you will find blackberry jam, vanilla and a high sweetness. When the coffee cools down, the tomato soup pops up again, together with a soft black tea and nori leaf note.
When you take a sip of the coffee, slurp some oxygen inside and swirl the coffee round. You will find two notes that are dominant in this coffee: blackberry jam and watery tomato soup. at the same time there is a lemony acidity that gradually starts to change into grapefruit acidity when it cools down. The blackberry fades into the back ground as the coffee cools down but creates a spot for a hint of plum and Nori leaf (the green leaf around your sushi). At thed same time you will notice a pulling sensation on the back sides of your tongue. This is the grapefruit note that starts to develop and will linger for the rest of the tasting. After a while the blackberry pops up again, this time in the aftertaste. The aftertaste of this coffee brings notes of sweet blackberry, black tea and intense grapefruit. The tannins that come with the grapefruit pull saliva from the back of your mouth and create a juicy experience.
The verdict.
To me, Independent Coffee Roasters have done an amazing job on this Kenya Mukima. The notes of tomato, blackberry, grapefruit, black tea are all amazing, very clear and obvious in the cup. The combination of these notes with a beautiful high lemon/grapefruit acidity and full mouthfeel make this a coffee that I can enjoy each day and every day. If you are looking for a Kenya with a tomato soup note, this is your choice! The price/quality of this coffee is nothing short of amazing: 7.15 euro for 250 grams is almost for free.
Well done Sebastiaan and Laurent!
I’ve placed the link to this coffee here. It is a non-paid link, I do not make money out of it at all.