The Kenya Kiamugumo Kirinyaga is this fortnight's Fresh Crop coffee feature. Raaimi shares recipes for both filter and espresso below for this fortnight's Fresh Crop Exclusive!
Welcoming our newest coffee to the menu, Kenya Kiamugumo Kirinyaga PB.
From the moment we cupped this Kenyan coffee I was pretty excited for this sweet, delicate and complex cup to arrive so others could experience what we just tasted!
Once the coffee is ground and ready to brew, you can smell sweet spice and vanilla. Then something a little fruity wafts out.
The first sip feels refreshing. There is a crisp apple acidity shining through, followed by the fruits; blackcurrants and peach tea, finishing with smooth lingering chocolate notes.
You may notice the round unique shape of the beans when you open the bag. This is a peaberry (PB). The PB coffee plant grows a single round curled bean inside the coffee cherry instead of the regular two beans with a flat side. This PB is also a size and grade for this particular coffee from Kirinyaga.
Kirinyaga is central to the Kenyan coffee growing region, with 1500 smallholder farmers contributing their harvest to a large processing factory called the Ngariama Farmers Cooperatives.
Ripe cherries are hand-picked around October to December and are sorted at the farmers house. The coffee is then taken to the processing factory where it is de-pulped and lightly fermented in water for 12-48 hours.
The coffee is washed four times over in long tanks, turning the beans with a wooden paddle to remove the sticky sweet mucilage the bean was fermenting in. The coffee is dried in the parchment on raised beds for 9-14 days then taken to a factory for sorting and further processing and grading.
Kenya is known in the industry for its high standards and effective grading system to sort coffee. The sorting of the cherries is important at a roasting level, as beans of same size roast at the same rate. This means a more even roast, which reveals the true flavour profile of that particular coffee lot.
The system is by size with eight grades. PB pea berry, AA, AB, C, TT, T MH, ML, E elephant bean.
Getting to know this coffee over the past few weeks has been a delight.
We have been developing the recipes on espresso and filter, brewing pour overs, batch brew and tasting the differences in recipes to bring you a delicious cup. Now you get to enjoy that same feeling when you brew and drink this refreshing coffee at home.
I enjoyed drinking the Kenyan as an espresso or long black on the machine. I loved the complexity of all the elements as they changed. The vibrant refreshing acidity at the start, the sweet blackcurrant fruit and the creamy chocolate finish. It is an all round beautifully balanced bold cup!
On filter the coffee’s delicate nature came through. In some pour overs there were hints of black tea and jasmine along with the juicy apple acidity, fruits and chocolate.
You'll need:
Grind size: Medium-Course, 9.5 EK grinder
27 clicks on a Comandante grinder
35-37 on a Breville Smart Grinder Pro
Preparation
Gather your coffee , set up your equipment to have everything ready to go and close by.
Preheat your kettle to 94 degrees using filtered water. This is to ensure there are no extra minerals or compounds changing the taste in your final cup. We recommend using a BWT Water Filter Jug.
While the kettle is on, weigh and grind your coffee.
Fold the filter paper on the joined side, then open and place it in the V60 dripper atop your cup.
Next up, rinse the paper filter with hot water and Let it drip through into the cup beneath. This removes the slight papery taste from the filter and pre heats your cup at the same time! Remove this water before brewing.
Take your scales and place your cup with v60 cone on top. Add your freshly ground coffee and give the v60 a gentle shake to level out the coffee bed. Tare the scales to 0.
Method
00:00
Start the timer and saturate the coffee grounds with water until the scale reads double your dose, so 36g.
Wait 30 seconds. During this time you begin to notice small bubbles and a slight dome rising, releasing gas trapped inside the coffee.
This is called the ‘Bloom’. It is a beautiful step to smell, watch and helps our coffee extract more evenly. At this stage you can also agitate the coffee to help wet all the grinds. Do this by using a stirrer in circular motion or swirling the V60.
00:30
Start to pour slowly in the centre of the coffee bed in a circular motion. Working your way out near the edges of the filter paper. Continue to pour in the same direction but start to head back towards the centre again in the same circular motion.
01:00
Keep pouring until you around 150g. Stop here and give the coffee a little contact time to brew and extract, wait until the water level has dropped 1cm.
Top up with the same circular motion until you reach 270g, the desired yield.
02:35
Wait until the drips come to a stop and you are ready to enjoy your beautifully made delicious pour over!
Espresso
Domestic espresso recipe (using a Breville Bambino)
Dose: 21g
Yield: 38g
Time: 36s
Ratio: 1:1.6
On the Slayer LP we use 21g of coffee and aim for a yield of 38g, however your machine and set up will determine what dose (and therefore, yield) you should aim for. Some domestic machines have 20-22g baskets, however some will only be able to hold 16-18g. Use the ratio to adjust the espresso recipe.
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