Last year this coffee was a great success, but unfortunately we didn’t have as much of it. This year we did better and bought a larger quantity.
Farm / Processing Station:
Endebess Estate is located in the northern part of Kenya’s Ri Valley, near the market town of Kitale in the Trans Nzoiya District. The Ri Valley is home to the Cherang’any mountain range and a chain of volcanoes, some of which are still active. The Cherang’any Hills are one of Kenya’s five major forests and watersheds and are spread over three districts, namely Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot. Endebess Estate Farm is located at the foot of Mount Elgon, an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya. The farm has a total area of approximately 758 hectares, of which 248 hectares are under coffee cultivation. The lot we purchased from Endebess Estate is processed using the natural method.
Variety:
SL28 is one of the best known and most respected African varieties. From Kenya, where it was originally selected in the 1930s, it has spread to other parts of Africa (it is particularly important in the Arabica growing areas of Uganda) and now to Latin America. The variety is suitable for medium to high altitudes and is drought tolerant, but susceptible to the main coffee diseases. SL28 is characterised by rusticity, a trait that means it can be left untended for several years or even decades and then return to successful production. Many parts of Kenya have SL28 trees that are 60-80 years old and still productive. The variety was selected at the former Scott Agricultural Laboratories (now the National Agricultural Laboratories, NARL, located in Kabete). The individual tree selections made at Scott Laboratories between 1935 and 1939 were prefixed with SL. There were 42 in total and they were examined for yield, quality and resistance to drought and disease. Recent genetic tests have confirmed that SL28 is related to the Bourbon genetic group. It has become valued for its sweet, complex flavour with vinous undertones.
SL34 was originally selected in Kenya in the late 1930s at Scott Agricultural Laboratories. It is very susceptible to major diseases such as coffee rust, hookworm and coffee berry disease. Therefore, proper disease control and prevention strategies are essential for its successful cultivation. Recent genetic tests have shown that SL34 is related to the Typica genetic group. The variety is known for its exceptional cup quality, full body and pleasant acidity.
Ruiru 11 is a variety created from many varieties. Catimor (female parent) x multi-cross selection including K7, SL28, N39, Rume Sudan (male parent) among others. This Kenyan high yielding, dwarf/compact hybrid is tolerant to coffee rust and resistant to coffee berry disease (CBD). Flavour-wise, Ruiru 11 is not that interesting and is slightly earthy.
Batian is a high yielding variety that combines high yields, coffee rust resistance, coffee berry disease resistance and good cup quality. It was bred in 2010 on the basis of Ruiru 11, but is already much more interesting in terms of taste.
Processing:
The coffee cherries are first washed with fresh river water from the Koitobos River before drying, then the whole cherries are dried in the sun on African beds. The whole drying process usually takes between 21 and 28 days depending on the weather. The beans are turned at least four times a day. The result is a sweet and very juicy coffee.
Our baristas notes:
A juicy fruity espresso that is very simple to set up. The recipe that worked best for us was 1 : 2.18 with a time between 25 and 28 seconds. The result is a very pleasant espresso with medium citric acidity, medium sweetness and medium aftertaste. There is a very pleasant taste of pomelo or grapefruit on the body with a slightly longer extraction and pomelo with redcurrant on a shorter extraction, always nicely complemented by the fruity sweetness of apricot and a sweet, thick aftertaste similar to hot chocolate. We have not made any changes to the milk recipe. Cappucino is pleasantly sweet with notes of caramel, apricot yoghurt and chocolate.
