Kenya - Tegu

Notes of Brown Sugar, Molasses and Tamarillo  The quintessential Kenyan coffee The sweetness of this cup can be hard to taste around. The cup oozes with sweet syrupy brown sugar and molasses. Tart fruit helps cut through the sweetness: we get the citrusy, pineapple, and rhubarb notes present in naranjilla, as well the sweet and savory flavors of a tamarillo. The cup finishes with a tart, sparkling acidity reminiscent of a bright, fruity, white wine grown in mineral soils. Producer Notes:  This coffee is composed of a mix of some of the most desirable coffee varieties in the world. SL 28 and SL 34 are quite legendary in their cup qualities and susceptibility to disease. Were it not for their outstanding flavor production, both of these varieties would quickly have vanished from cultivation. Fortunately their amazing taste and aroma outweighed their delicate nature for long enough for Batain, Ruiru 11 to be bred with SL genetics.  Tegu factory is located near Karatina in Nyeri County. The smallholder farmers that make up the cooperative that own and supply the factory live and farm in the rich volcanic soils in the foothills of Mt. Kenya. The coffee is size sorted prior to pulping. Cooler nighttime temperatures allow for an overnight fermentation followed by an additional wash, density sorted, size sorted once more and then dried on raised beds for between 8 and 14 days depending on ambient temperature and humidity. Brew Notes:  We find that a 1:16 - 1:18 brew ratio helps show the spectrum of flavor in this coffee Coffee Details: Varieties:  SL28, SL34, Batain, Ruiru 11 Processing Method:  Washed, sun-dried on raised beds Producers:  800 Smallholder farmers, Tegu Coffee Mill Altitude:  5300–5900’