Juicebox Series ~ Karindundu AB from Nyeri, Kenya
US$0.00
Producers: smallholders organized around Karindundu washing station
Where: Nyeri, Kenya
Varieties: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian
Processing: Washed
Importer: Red Fox
Harvest: Dec-Jan 2022/23
Tasting notes: blackberry, mango, eucalyptus
Juicy blackberry, soft mango like fruit, with equally delicate and complex herbal eucalyptus qualities, this field blend of SL28, SL34, Ruiru11, & Batian comes from 400 smallholders who deliver to Karindundu washing station in Nyeri, Kenya. Sorted as an AB, these mid-sized fruits are meticulously processed & are a joy to have as a continuation of our Juicebox Series.
Processing
Only the ripest cherries are delivered, and additional hand sorting and floating is done to remove less dense and damaged fruit before the coffee is depulped, fermented, and washed.
After the coffee is washed, it’s soaked in fresh water for long periods – This process is often called Double Washed or Kenya process, and contributes to the quality through equalizing the seeds moisture before going to the drying tables.
The lot is dried for up to two weeks on raised beds, which are carefully constructed to ensure proper air circulation and temperature control for optimal drying, contained within the newly installed solar dryer system described above. When the coffee is milled for export, the green beans are sorted by screen size and graded according to size and shape. Larger beans (17/18 screen) are labelled AA, 15/16 screen are labelled AB (like this one from Karindundu), and the round peaberry are labelled PB, there are also other grades that you don’t often see exported.
Water
We brew all our coffees with municipal water that flows from our taps in Metro Vancouver. This municipal source is very soft, low ppm water (around 30 TDS)
There are many alternative water recipes out there that will produce tasty cups if your water from the tap isn’t giving you good results. A good place to start is 1/2 strength Third Wave Water of around 60-70ppm (0.16g.-0.2g./L of TWW powder).
Brewing
We make an effort to taste our coffees in a variety of ways, but mostly use cupping, V60, and Kalita 155 brews as our main ways of quality control and dialling in roast profiles. Our filter recipes can be found in our Journal here:
Espresso
Roasted with filter coffee in mind, expect shots that are lighter in body and brighter in acidity than your typical espresso profile.
Kamwangi AA makes shots that are bright with flavours of mango, forest berry and tree tomato along with a nice brown sugar finish to round it all out. Best as straight espresso and filter coffee.
Starting spec: 18g:45g in 25 sec. on 9bar profile @93C