Jeremy and I have been in Kenya the last ten days, cupping through the auctions, touching base with producers, establishing new relationships, and narrowing down our sights on a handful of special gems to bring back home to you.

It has shaped up to be an unusual main harvest here as a result of changing weather. Abnormally heavy rains in December of 09’ washed away flowers of what would be a great 2010-2011 harvest. The addition of drought in April-May 2010’ compounded the already low production, leaving very little cherry to thrive on the plants. Some factories like Gaturiri saw production down 65%, a 15-year low for them. Across the board, all the factories we visited were barely producing half of what they had produced in the 2009-2010 harvest. Likewise, our partnering dry-mill CKCM was seeing just 50% of parchment delivered from all of the factories from every growing region in the area.

While the final outturn of the main harvest ended up being small in quantity, the quality was exceptional. Less fruit on the coffee plants led to a bounty of nutrition to be had by the few surviving cherries, thus creating more quality lots than in years past. Where AA/AB grades typically account for 30% of the harvest, they accounted for 75-80% of this harvest. The quality was exquisite, and after digging through a few hundred samples we narrowed down to a manageable selection of what we considered some of the finest Kenyan samples we have yet to taste.

Besides cupping, we have spent much of our time here visiting with the producers. Mid-week, we arranged for visits with factories in the Murang’a area, west of Nyeri, where we purchased coffees from both Kangunu and Miroroma last year. Nestled between rolling hills of bright green tea, and at the foothills of the Aberdare Range, we gained some insight into the unique, dense and syrupy coffees that come from this fertile area.

Later in the week, we had a chance to re-visit a handful of factories in Nyeri, among them, Gaturiri, Kagumoini, Tegu, and Kangocho. These factories all welcomed us back at a time when the final traces of this unusual harvest were being put to a close. Many of the beds and pulpers were being repaired and the last few bags of parchment headed for delivery to the dry-mill. We toured the factories and gained further insight into the years struggles and achievements. This won’t be a harvest soon forgotten here in Kenya, and I assure you come spring time, when these coffees start making their way on to our menu, you won’t easily forget them either.

We are just wrapping things up here and are about to make our way back west, with more visits to our producers in Latin America this month. Next stop is Costa Rica, were we finalize our lots and get them ready for shipment.