Kieni 2011

Well back from our trip to Kenya it's due time to share a little more of our experiences.

First of all, yes we bought an amazing lot of coffee from the Kieni wet mill.

As we wrote in the last blog post we were really hoping that the quality of their coffee would match last years. For us as a roastery it's not very satisfying to be shopping around for coffees from different farms or coops every year. We know the farmers depend on a good income to be able to produce quality. In Kenya however we've had difficulties relying on one mill, though. Perhaps because the top quality there is so outrageously good that and cupping there is like the best Cup of Excellence. We have really been hoping to build a relationship with the farmers there and this year it's the first time we're buying from the same mill two years in a row.

Casper with Kieni Factory Chairman Charles Musai Ihatu on the left and Factory Manager Geofrey Wanjau in the middle


On this trip we cupped around 300 different lots of Kenyan coffee. Around 100 of them were AA lots. Of them probably 10-20 was something we'd consider buying. Not to say there weren't some great coffees in the rest, but just not what we're looking for.



The Kieni had it though. The taste profile was very similar to last year. Heaps of black currant and dark berries but also some lighter citrus and floral notes came through this year. It still has that huge velvety mouthfeel and deep lush acidity. But it seems even sweeter and just more intensely aromatic. It's gonna be so much fun to nail the roast profile and see what we can get out of this coffee.



Naturally it was very interesting for us to find out if Kieni does anything different than the other wet mills in the area. The mill is definitely very well run by Geofrey. He strike us as very serious about the production, keeping things organized and clean. The Kieni factory is not the most impressive or beautiful we've seen in Kenya, but it's situated really well. The area where the drying tables are placed is almost shaped like a bowl, with a small valley at the end. This means the lots of air is coming through the area. The air is also not too warm, allowing for a cooler bean temperature while drying, thus reducing the risk of mold and fermentation processes at that stage.

Drying Tables at Kieni


The factory also has two fermentation tanks. It's common in Kenya to ferment the coffee for 8-16 hours after depulping in the first tank and then do an intermediate washing before fermenting the coffee again for some hours. With two tanks the intermediate washing can be done more carefully and thoroughly. After the first fermentation around 90% of the mucilage is removed. The last 10% is mainly in the middle crack in the bean and is then broken down during the second fermentation part. After that the coffee is washed in the washing channels and then put in soaking tanks in clean water, where they can be left for usually 6-12 hours but as long as 48 hours.

The Wet Mill:
Recieving Station at the top, depulper in middle, the two rows of fermentation tanks under the bottom roof and finally the washing channels.


After the washing process the parchment coffee is pumped from the soaking tanks onto the first drying tables for skin drying. The first tables are slanting a lot to let the water run off and the coffee contains around 55% moisture. After skin drying the coffee is moved to the more flat drying tables, where it's dried to 10%. It's important that the drying doesn't happen too fast, and for that reason the coffee is covered to avoid direct sunlight. It's also turned over constantly to allow for even drying and the raised tables of course allow for air to pass underneath and up through the coffee. The drying at Kieni takes around 7 - 10 days.



After drying the coffee is rested for another 2 weeks in a warehouse to stabilise the humidity inside the individual bean and throughout the entire batch.

One 'lot' on Kieni is typically one week's total harvest. We cupped lots from other weeks as well and they were also extremely good. The best surprise came the day after we had visited the Kieni mill. We had just decided that we were definitely going to buy one particular lot from Kieni, which had really stood out. As we were trying to arrange calls to the farmers, their marketing agent and our colleagues in Denmark to sort it all out, the Chairman and Factory Manager plus one of the board members from Kieni arrived at the Central Kenya Coffee Mill, where we'd been cupping. They were delivering that weeks lot from the factory.



It was a great pleasure to make the agreement with them right there and then, but even better was that we were able to cup their coffee together with them and talk more about our relationship with them. They are extremely happy to make direct sales. First off it gives them more money in their hands. This is the most important thing. Secondly, they take great pride in knowing where their coffee goes to. We had brought them a couple of bags of our roast of the Kieni we bought last year, and they had been really happy to show the farmers that this is where their coffee was going. As the chairman, Charles, told me, a lot of the farmers don't realise that their coffee makes it further than the factory. So they were happy and proud to see the factory name on the bag. He encouraged us to bring more bags next year. Will do.



One last thing that really struck us when we visited some of the farmers around Mugaga, was the incredible biodiversity there. It looks nothing like you see at larger farms. The coffee trees are growing right in the middle of lots of other trees: Bananas, mango, tree tomato and many other fruits all in a big mixture.

This is what a "farm" looks like around Kieni:


We also visited a lot of other societies and wet mills around the Nyeri region. Some we have bought from previously and others are cupping great or interesting in another way. Unfortunately we can't buy it all. But everywhere we went people were extremely hospitable and eager to explain what they are doing. Everybody we talked with also spoke very highly about the direct trade system, and they confirmed that is more profitable for them than selling through the auction.

A big thank you to Kieni for showing us around and selling us an awesome lot of their delicious coffee. Thank you to Bridget Carrington from Dorman's for a good time in Nairobi. Also a big thank you to Philip Kamau from C.M.S. for explaining SO much about coffee growing and processing in Kenya to us. And especially thanks to Ernest Njuguna from C.K.C.M. for picking out some awesome coffees for us to cup. He's an amazing cupper and a guy we really respect.

Casper and Ernest


We are now waiting eagerly for the Kieni lot to go through an extra hand-sorting and then get vacuum packed. It will then be carefully packed and the shipped in a container to Copenhagen. Let's hope there's not too many pirates in the water... Meanwhile you can enjoy the full set of pictures on Flickr or drink some of last year's Kieni or Gatina.



As part of Direct Trade we visit the farmers we buy from each year. You can see pictures and descriptions from each trip in our Flickr Origin Trips Collection.

Nyeri – Kenya

We (that’s Casper and Klaus) are back in Kenya. Casper was here last year, but it’s been four years since Klaus was last here. And it’s good to be back!

See the full set of pictures including descriptions on Flickr

Monday we spent all day at Dorman’s in Nairobi cupping somewhere between 100 and 150 different coffees. Most of it lots that were going on the auction the day after. We’re not buying coffees through the auction, but in stead we buy it directly from the farmer. The cupping was great, though, to get an overview of what’s available this year and in general to get in shape for cupping these high-acidic Kenyans. Dorman’s is probably the most quality-orientated exporter here in Kenya and we have a great relationship with them. They’ve helped us setting up our own Direct Trade relationships here and are paid separately for the work they do. Bridget, who’s our main contact, is always fun to be around and some of you might know her from her judging duties in the WBC. It was also nice to see Jeremy Brock again and Kennedy, who are both terrific cuppers.

Casper, Tim and Morten cupping at Dormans


This morning, Tuesday, we left Nairobi in the morning to drive up to Nyeri. First stop was the Central Kenya Coffee Mill where Ernest was ready to greet us with a cupping. The coffees here are even fresher and tasted amazing.

Central Kenya Coffee Mill


After the cupping we went to visit the Kieni factory - the wet mill or washing station, as it’s also called. We’ve been exceedingly satisfied with the lot we bought from Kieni last year and are hoping to buy from them again. However, “Taste Is King” and we’ll buy the coffee that stands out on the cupping table. On the other hand we’d also like to support the same factory and society year after year, like we do in other places. It comes down to a balance, but we think we’ve found a great society in Mugaga.

Kieni is part of the Mugaga society. To explain, a society is a coop of several factories. Mugaga has Kagumoini, Kiamabara, Gathuga, Gatina and Kieni under their umbrella. Last year we bought lots from the latter two. Other roasteries call their coffees by the society name, Mugaga in this instance, but we prefer to have the traceability of the wet mill as the primary name. The president of the Mugaga society welcomed us to their headquarters and we talked for a while about the challenges they face.

This year in Kenya, the harvest is extremely small. It was small last year too, but it’s even worse this year. With the C-market price being very high, and supply being low too, the coffees are getting historically high prices. However for the individual farmer it does not compensate enough for the very low yield they’ve had this year. We all need to pay a lot more for coffee, if we want quality coffee in the future. And we need to guarantee that the farmers and pickers receive the money. Fortunately all the farmers we talked to say that they benefit a lot from selling directly to roasters. They get a higher price, which is the most essential thing.

There’s some good news in here though. There’s more AA - that’s the largest size beans – this year, and the beans are huuuuge! That’s not necessarily an indication of quality, but from what we’ve hear and what we have cupped, the flavor quality of the coffee this year is better than last year.

At the Kieni Factory talking with the factory manager Geofrey Wanjau and Coffee Management System's Philip Kamau


At Kieni we saw a lot of interesting things. It’s amazing to see these more than 50-year-old trees growing side by side with banana, mango many other trees. The biodiversity is huge and there’s a lot of shade from the higher trees. We were guided though the way they process the coffee at the wet mill, which varies slightly from mill to mill. We want to share all the information we got with you, but the internet connection here is quite slow and it’s gonna be much better with pictures.

After Kieni we visited the Kagumoini factory, which is also part of the Mugaga society. It’s probably the most beautiful coffee mill we’ve ever seen. Pictures doesn’t do it justice. They were very nice and welcoming and we had a great time there. Pictures will follow once we’re back.



In the afternoon we did another round of cupping and there were some really spectacular coffees on the tables. We could easily have bought some right there on the spot, but we’re doing another couple of rounds of cupping tomorrow, and really look forward to it.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. We’ll try to update again soon. Many greetings from Kenya!
- Casper & Klaus

UPDATED: Now with pictures. Finally.

If you want to read more, click here and here for last years report

Last roast of the Cypresal Espresso

The limited lot of Cypresal has almost run out. So the last batch of it will be roasted on Tuesday.

You can order it now on the webshop and we'll send it out Tuesday afternoon.

We've been extremely happy with how this espresso turned out. One of my personal best coffee moments of 2010 was tasting that espresso for the first time. Expect chocolate, roasted almonds, caramel, toffee and fully ripe orange.

For those not familiar with the coffee, it's a single microlot from the Finca Vista Hermosa farm in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. It's a different lot than the one we currently offer as a lighter roast for filter/french press. They grow three varieties at the farm: 70% Bourbon, 15% Caturra and 15% Catuai. It's depulped, fermented, washed (very thoroughly) and then sun dried. We've bought coffee directly from Edwin Martinez for the past four years now, and look forward to visiting again in late February.

Casper trying to help out on his visit in 2010

Printa Café, Budapest

At the WBC in London back in June we met a young man from Budapest, Hungary. His name was Tibor Várady and he was looking for a coffee supplier for the coffee shop he was about to open. At first we were a little resistant about sending our coffee that far, but Tibor hadn't been able to find anything locally that he was really happy with. And when he said he was willing to travel to Denmark for training and to see our roastery and talk with us, we could tell he was very enthusiastic about the project.

So back in August Tibor came to Denmark for a week. We cupped a lot, had some great barista training and he got to hang out at the roastery and coffee shop and just talk coffee. We got to know him as a very friendly and passionate guy, who is really keen to learn more about coffee and share it with his guests in Budapest.



In September he opened his coffee shop. Inspired by WBC champ Gwilym Davies's coffee shop Prufrock inside Present, a clothing shop, Tibor had found a great location in the shop Printa. It meant that on his very limited budget he could invest in really good equipment (La Marzocco Linea and Mazzer Robur E) in stead of a huge down-payment on a location.



Tibor is serving Hario V60, Aeropress, Siphon, Filter and French Press depending on what people would like and what he feels up to with a given coffee. He's been great in giving us feedback on how the coffees are tasting on his equipment and water and we think the shop looks amazing.



Pictures by Anita Szeicz
See the full Flickr album here