Why does Kenyan coffee taste sour and bright? Sharing and introduction to brewing parameters of Kenyan coffee planting terroir varieties!

Guest friend: "Do you have any special flavor coffee beans to recommend? "Qianjie: " Then you can try this Kenyan coffee. It has strong flavors of young tomato and black plum! "After smelling the dry fragrance, the guests and friends said," Wow!!! The taste of young tomatoes is really strong. How do you do it? "The above is the daily dialogue in Qianjie stores. Whenever a customer wants to buy coffee beans with a special flavor, Kenya·Little Tomatoes is always one of Front Street's special recommendations. When recommending it, Qianjie would take out beans to show guests and friends to smell the dry aroma. It wasn't long before they would be shocked by the tomato aroma emitted by Kenyan coffee and show surprised expressions. Not only the dry aroma, we can also enjoy the bright sour aroma of small tomatoes from the coffee when tasting it, so this often makes many friends ask Qianjie later: "Why is the small tomato flavor of Kenyan coffee so strong? "Because of this, this topic has become a sharing that Qianjie enjoys.

Variety, planting, processing, and baking are the four main factors that determine the flavor of coffee in the final cup. Let's talk about planting first, because the planting environment of coffee beans determines 30% of the basic flavor of coffee.

The reason why most Kenyan coffee has the sour aroma of young tomatoes is because the terroir where they are grown provides excellent conditions for flavor development.

Kenya is located in a low-latitude tropical region near the equator. There are two concentrated rainy seasons every year. Most of the inland has a tropical grassland climate, while the coastal areas are hot and humid. Coffee in Kenya is mainly grown in volcanic areas at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,100 meters in the middle. The higher altitude makes the temperature difference between day and night more obvious, which lengthens the growth time of coffee beans and allows them to accumulate richer aromatic substances. Not only that, the volcanic soil rich in phosphoric acid gives coffee a rising and full fruit acid, which allows Kenyan coffee to develop a distinctive raspberry acid aroma.

SL28 &SL34 Although most Kenyan coffees have the sour aroma of young tomatoes, some Kenyan coffees are nothing more than that. They have nothing else but acid, and they are very dull to drink. This is related to the variety, because the variety determines 70% of the basic flavor of coffee. As previously introduced in Front Street's previous sharing, SL28 and SL34 are the two main varieties that have created Kenya's coffee legend. They are drought-resistant varieties discovered by Scott Laboratory over several years starting in 1931. SL is the abbreviation of Scott Laboratory/Scott Laboratories, and 28 and 34 are their experimental numbers.

SL28 is a mutant of Bourbon and SL34 is a mutant of Iron Picca. Qianjie shared in the article "Kenya's Star Breeds" that these two varieties not only have a unique berry acid aroma, but also have a unique sweetness. The coffee produced is very rich in layers.

Kenya's washing again is Kenya's unique coffee processing method-K72 washing. K72 means 72 hours of washing in Kenya. Unlike conventional washing, K72 washing will allow beans to be washed and fermented for a longer time during the processing process, up to 72 hours.

Conventional water washing treatment is to float the coffee cherries, then peel the skin, soak the pectin-containing coffee beans in water, then wash them once with clean water to remove residual pectin, and finally transport them directly to the drying ground for drying and packaging. Kenyan washing, on the other hand, allows coffee beans to be soaked in a pool of clean water for a second time after completing a round of soaking, and then taken out for washing before being transported to the drying ground for drying. Since the coffee beans are washed twice during the process, this washing treatment method is also called "Double Washed", that is, double washing. Then, because Kenya was the first production area to use this kind of washing, this method has the nickname "Kenyan Prosess", which is another name for the Kenyan Treatment Method. K72 is a derivative of this basis. Because the washing time is as high as 72 hours, it is referred to as K72 for short.

Longer washing and fermentation gives the coffee a richer berry aroma, which further enhances the uniqueness of Kenyan coffee. In order to be able to taste the classic Kenyan flavor, Qianjie carried out strict screening and finally selected a coffee variety SL28 &SL34 from Kenya's Sika producing area and washed with K72 as the Kenyan bean list. Representative of Kenyan coffee, and named it "Kenya·Little Tomato" based on its characteristics. Because he wanted this bean to not only highlight Kenya's unique sour aroma but also have excellent sweetness, Qian Street chose to cook it with moderate to light baking. Front Street Coffee: Kenya·Little Tomato

Production area: Sika

Treatment plant: Azalia Treatment Plant

Altitude: 1550~1750 m

Varieties: SL28, SL34

Treatment method: Water washing

Flavors: dark plum, tomato, yellow sugar, black brimlin

Since the baking is moderate to shallow, the extraction efficiency we can use can be slightly higher when brewing. The following are the extraction parameters used when brewing this Kenyan tomato on the front street. You can refer to it: powder quantity 15g, powder and water ratio 1:15, water temperature 92°C, grinding degree 75%~80% of the sieve rate of No. 20, extraction time 2 minutes.

From the dry aroma of coffee after grinding and the wet aroma emitted during the brewing process, we can feel the very obvious aroma of small tomatoes and dark plum. When the coffee enters the mouth, the aroma becomes more obvious. Coupled with the sweet and sour taste of the coffee, it is like drinking another cup of freshly squeezed tomato juice. In addition to young tomatoes, we can also feel the flavors of dark plum, yellow sugar, brins, and berries from coffee. The taste is very full and the finish is long, which is very good ~

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