Sweet peach and orange blossom aroma with tart, vibrant, winey flavors of cranberry, red currant, cut oak and oolong tea, citrus flavors of grapefruit, lemon and tangerine with a subtle layer of tropical flavors including champagne mango, guava and lychee. A lively and focused classic Kenya with plenty of old world SL variety character.
The Kii Peaberry is produced by the 850 smallholder producers at the Kii Cooperative in Kirinyaga, Kenya on the southern slope of Mt. Kenya. Kii is a part of Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), a three cooperative member group that also includes the Karimuki and Kiangoi Cooperatives. Rungeto FCS was originally developed in the early 1990’s as the Ngiriama FCS and reformed into its current membership in 1997.
Washed processing at Kii involves an initial 16-18 hour fermentation where it is then fully washed in fresh, cold river water and densimetric separated through a series of long, cement channels. Drying takes place on raised beds for two weeks and then the coffee is stored in large perforated storage bins to allow the coffee to cure prior to sorting and grading.
During the sorting and grading phase, the Kii peaberries are meticulously hand sorted out from the flat beans. A peaberry is a morphological development in which a single seed forms within a coffee cherry. Numerous Coffea arabica varieties display this formation and peaberries grow alongside paired flat berries on the same branch, though they typically constitute only a small percentage of seeds that form on a tree. The sorting process is labor intensive, but the result offers a particularly focused and lively cup.
After repose, this coffee is sealed in Grain-Pro barrier packaging at origin and then sent on its way to our Roastery where we preserve the green coffee under hermetic seal until it is roasted as part of our Barrington Green Seal Program© .
This coffee is also available as part of our Kenya Rare & Exotic Tasting Pair with our Mahiga Double.