July: New Beans
This time of year is when coffee roasters get excited – kind of like when mangoholics see the first fresh mangoes come into season!
All the Central American beans are arriving into Australia in July, as well as the beginnings of the East African harvest – notably Ethiopia (!) and Kenya (!!). In fact it makes a roaster wonder how they have been surviving over the last several months…
For now, we are thrilled to have three fantastic East African gems in the house:
- Kenya Mukangu
- Kenya Kiria-ini
- Ethiopia natural Yirgacheffe Gelena Abaya
Kenya Mukangu & Kiria-ini:
Kenyan coffee is special, and these two coffees are great exemplars of that fact!
They are from nearby regions in Central Kenya, and comprising the same two plant varieties, processed using the same Kenyan washing/soaking method.
Both are distinctively Kenyan, but quite different from each other. Mukangu is red fruit (especially berries), while Kiria-ini is yellow fruit (citrus zest and apricots). Both have excellent bright acidity and nice buttery mouthfeel and sweetness.
Ethiopia natural Yirgacheffe Gelena Abaya:
This natural-process Yirgacheffe – different in every way to our washed Yirgacheffe from earlier this year – is what we commonly refer to in the industry as “off its face”.
There’s an abundance of fruit – raspberry, pineapple, red grapes and sultanas – as well as a distinctly winey character, even a little hint of pinot-like formic acid.
Yirgacheffe is better known for its washed coffees but this natural is unusually clean and sweet, allowing some of the usual Yirgy characteristics to shine through.
This map shows where our two Kenya lots (south-central Kenya) and our Yirgacheffe (southern Ethiopia) came from:
Stay tuned for our exciting Central American offerings that will be arriving later this month – I will wax lyrical about them in the August update!
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