With the arrival of April, we’re now eagerly awaiting this year’s fresh-crop coffees from Kenya! We recently chatted with Christophe Brinker, our colleague at NKG East Africa, who works with producers in Kenya and Tanzania, to get a better understanding of this season and learn what we can expect from these shipping-any-minute coffees.
Weather
The beginning of last season was very dry. In usual years, substantial rains falls in November and December and returns in mid-March. However, the rains shifted significantly in 2022. Short rains in December were followed by a period of drought, and the spring rains did not arrive until mid April. As a result, the environmental stress on the trees meant some of the crop was lost.
The rains that did arrive in April were sufficient and, as usual, they triggered the development of flowers. In the lifecycle of a coffee tree, once the flowers are pollinated and spent, they drop off the tree revealing the carpel. That carpel slowly ripens into the fruit we call the cherry, which in Kenya can take from March until anywhere between September and December. During this period, specifically in June and August of 2022, some nights were unusually cold, dropping at times to 10 to 15 degrees C.
This cold weather (cold for fruiting trees but still above freezing) extended the maturation time for the cherries, which increases the sugar content stored in the fruit and seed. Sure enough, the sugar content was much higher this year than in the past, creating a very optimistic impression for the quality.
Quality
In Kenya, quality is measured by two indicators: bean size and cup quality. The 2021-22 season was exceptional in terms of quality, reports Christophe, with about 40 percent of the crop sorted as AA. By comparison, this season we are seeing more of an average year for size (with around 25 to 30 percent of the harvest measuring AA), which is excellent news.
Regarding cup quality, this year’s crop again did not disappoint. The high sugar content of the cherry is a promising indicator, and we are seeing it delivered in the cup. The Quality Control team at Ibero Kenya had strong first impressions with the pre-shipment samples that went through the lab early in the year. Though we’re seeing a range of cup profiles across our offerings, common threads are dynamic acidity, well articulated flavor and overall complexity.
Ibero Kenya’s Quality Control team cupping in their lab in Ruiru.
NKG Bloom in Kenya
Ibero Kenya also reports expanding its operations, specifically regarding the NKG Bloom initiative in Kenya. This year even more cooperatives have joined NKG Bloom, and its team of agronomists has grown in response. In keeping with the goal of NKG Bloom, to meaningfully improve the livelihoods of producers so they can enter pathways out of poverty for good, the Farmer Services Unit has been offering educational workshops — in both agronomy and business practices — and ensuring they farmers have the resources they need to optimize their coffee gardens and improve the economic viability of coffee production.
The results are evident. Since joining the NKG Bloom initiative, producers in Kenya, on average, have increased their yields from less than 6 bags per hectare to roughly 13 bags – well on their way toward a goal of 20 bags per hectare. We’re thrilled to be able to offer Kenya NKG Bloom Nguvu, a coffee that supports radical and lasting impact. For more information on NKG Bloom Kenya, and the difference between Kenya NKG Bloom Nguvu and Kenya Nguvu AA, please visit this blog post.
Kenya 2023 Offerings
In addition to Nguvu, which has become a staple in our inventory, we also have microlots to offer. While several are now QC and customer favorites, we’re also welcoming a new addition: Kenya Thiririka Githembe. Please visit our coffee bios to learn more about each — or click below — and ask your trader for availability and pricing. We can’t wait to share these special coffees with you! •
