Coffee thoughts: Kenya Kii AA, from Brandywine
Kenyan coffees are divisive for good reason. In my experience, they’re herbal, intensely sweet, sometimes even savory-sweet, and aggressively acidic. They’re hard to compare to existing beverages - way too intense and sweet to be “tea-like,” sometimes caramelly but rarely if ever reminiscent of hot chocolate, and with incredible sharpness and clarity that rules out funkier beverages. To some people, Kenyan coffees remind them best of tomato soup.
I’ve tasted tomato-esque Kenyans which I did like, but to me, a good Kenyan coffee reminds me of savory-sweet fruits like tamarind and guava with a herbal kick, almost like unripe mangoes. The best examples take advantage of their clarity stemming from the unique “double-washed” process1 and build a multilayered, intensely sweet cup.
I write this because I think this year’s offering of Kii AA from Brandywine hits exactly that. Brewed fast with two pours, it’s intensely fruity, citrusy, and sweet like pomegranate juice. With more pours, that intense pomegranate note calms down just a bit with the arrival of savory-sweet tamarind and a hint of dark chocolate.
I enjoyed the faster, more acidic brews more, which I think is where this coffee excels. If one pushes extraction a bit too far, there’s a bitter, almost metallic taste that dulls the cup. This seems to be common amongst Kenyan coffees2, so it’s not a huge drawback. I found three pours on the Orea and Kalita to be the sweet spot for this coffee, which draws out all the sweetness and plenty of acidity to make a brew reminiscent of POG juice. I didn’t have the chance to run any espresso on it, but Kii worked wonderfully in an AeroPress with my go-to recipe (the James Hoffmann recipe with twice the infusion time). Brandywine seems to roast coffees that are more tolerant of differing brew methods, and I found that to be true for Kii as well.
Kii is in hot competition for first place among the Kenyan coffees I’ve had this year. Its closest competitor is Luna’s Kamwangi AA, which leans much more on the herbal, rhubarby side of Kenyan coffee. Sey’s Kathakwa PB is good as well, but I found it to be more muted and caramelly than Kii, which is not the taste I’m personally seeking in Kenyan coffee. Nevertheless, this summer was a great time for Kenyan coffee, and I’m excited for more.
Explained well here and in this wonderful article by Christopher Feran. To summarize, coffee cherries in the Kenya “double washed process” are depulped and fermented in mucilage like regular washed processes, but then get a second ferment and wash cycle before being sent to dry. This extra ferment and wash step helps boost clarity and sweetness in the final cup. ↩︎
I found the same note in Luna’s Kamwangi AA from their June subscription, which they’d described as “phosphoric.” That coffee was much more amenable to more aggressive extractions, and that metallic bitter note tasted more like banana blossom or rhubarb in the Kamwangi. (It’s no coincidence Luna’s Kamwangi AA is tied with Kii AA for first place Kenyan coffee this year.) ↩︎