Posted on July 31, 2006 - by deCadmus

Tasting: Kenya Gethumbwini Peaberry

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So many Kenyan coffees of late cup heavy on citrus notes (lemon, and in particular, grapefruit flavors abound right now) so it’s a real pleasure — and a welcome change — to find a richly fruited coffee that features a different hue from Kenya’s vast palate (palette?) of flavors.

Gethumbwini is a relatively rare single-estate Kenya, and this lot is something still more rare… a peaberry. And it’s an extraordinarily hard, dense peaberry bean at that, which translates into lots of versatility at the roaster. For this batch I found a sweet spot just this side of a Full City roast; there were just a couple vanguard snaps of second crack just as this coffee hit the cooling tray.

Its aromas are opulent: blackcurrant and maple, chocolate, burgundy. In the cup it asserts its fruit in velvet hues — sweet black cherry and blackberry, a suggestion of sweet, dark chocolate. Its acidity is an ever-present winey undercurrent that rolls and tumbles in a silky body all the way through to its finish, which is mostly sweet, subtly tannic, and softly spiced.

This is just the kind of coffee that makes home-roasting such a rewarding effort. If that’s not in the cards, it’s an origin well-worth seeking out at a roaster near you. (Psst? Anybody know somebody who’s roasting this bean commercially?)

Highly Recommended. Available (green) from Sweet Maria’s.