Kenya Nyeri AA Kangocho Coop
Kenya Nyeri AA Kangocho Coop
Farm Description
Kangocho Factory is near Karatina town in the Nyeri District of central Kenya and is part of the Gikanda Cooperative Society, which is made up from the Gichatha-ini, Kangocho, and Ndaro-ini Cooperatives. The name takes the first few letters of each factory/wet mill to arrive at GiKaNda. Through Sweet Maria's, we have offered coffees from both the Gichatha-ini and Ndaro-ini factories, but this is the first time offering the Kangocho. The Gikanda Farmers Coop Society has delivered some phenomenal coffees over the years. They have a system where pickers are graded as A or B. "A" pickers are those who have been proven to deliver well-selected and sorted cherry, and they are invited to submit coffee on the "A" day, when a higher price is paid. "B" pickers are still yet-to-be-proven, or have had more immature beans and over-matures in their bags. They must come on the lowly "B" day and are paid less. Maybe it seems harsh, but there is no better way I have seen to create an incentive for quality harvesting, rather than mindless strip-picking of the coffee tree. (By the way, this A and B picker system has nothing to do with the AA or AB grade, that refers to screen size of the coffee at the dry mill only). It was a very small crop this year, and the competition for top lots was stiff. This was one of the highest price coffees we bought, but after cupping it in Kenya we knew we had to get it. On a cupping table, side by side with auction lots and Geshas, this coffee is brilliant! So in that context, and the scarcity of Kenyas like this, we think it is in that top tier and can command premium prices on the retail side. When customers taste it, they will know why.
This coffee is part of our Farm Gate pricing program.Cupping Notes
Right away there are potent and sweet berry fruit notes on the dry aroma with intense cherry notes on the wet aroma and added dry cocoa on the break. Even in the warm cup you notice a syrupy and satiny body with great sustained brightness. There is a bit of black tea with apple and cranberry tartness in the finish. As the cup cools you get candied grape and apricot, intensifying lush apricot juice with fruit blossom laced throughout as well as an abundance of pineapple in the finish. This coffee truly has a decadent body, even more syrupy on day 2 out of the roaster. The darker roasts have a more ripened peach and the dry cocoa that you see on the break, but my favorite roast was the City+ where the juicy stone fruit still had that lively tanginess. While this is a powerhouse coffee, you don't want to under-roast it and miss developing the sweetness (City roast lacks full sweetness, I think). Nor do you really want to hit second crack, in my opinion, or the precious flavors that demand so many descriptors are eclipsed. While not a fussy coffee to roast, there is definitely a sweet spot with Kangocho.


Comments
#1 Yum
Finally roasted a batch. Ran a tad slow up to first will use 30f higher charge and bit more airlfow after drying stage next time to hit first about a minute earlier: SOF 12:30 dropped ~432 15:40 . But still barely cooled bean munch excellent. Cupped as soon as cooled: Pineapple up-side-down cake with a side of papya and touch of bergemot. Nice tanginess. This looks to be excellent, stellar even and think next roast will be even better. SOF to drop stretch worked for great sweetness and light caramelization, but a bit faster coming up to 1st think will "pop" even more!