Currant, wine, blackberry, tangerine, tropical fruits, cherry…are you drooling yet? This year’s crop of Kenya lots is full of complexity, sweetness, and big flavors. We brought our west coast offerings to roasters at Buckman Coffee Factory on September 18th for a public cupping.
Before the cupping, Jim McEnaney from La Minita’s Vermont office gave a presentation on coffee in Kenya. We’ve found our cuppings are more impactful when we provide background on the coffees, including who grew them, how they are grown and processed, and what the local coffee producing culture is like. Jim visited Kenya earlier this year and had lots of great info to share on the Kenyan coffee auction, farm locations and soil conditions, bean sizing (AA beans are bigger than AB), and more. After tasting the Kenyan coffees, we cupped a table of Nicaraguas and Guatemalas that showed a range of diverse coffees from blenders to a quirky low temperature anaerobic fermentation natural.
We also had a visit from an Oregon Public Broadcasting producer, who was recording our slurps to include in a radio piece on the Cup of Excellence.