New to our small batch line, Sunbird Kenya AA has officially landed. Kenyan coffee is known for offering some of the most aromatic and brightly acidic flavor notes around. The delicacy, yet complexity of these flavors are some of my favorites among the all coffee producing countries. You may notice that certain coffees have letters after their names. What do they mean, you ask? Read on to learn more about green coffee grading.
Once coffee has been dried, it runs through several machines including a destoner (removes stones and other items you don’t want in your coffee) and coffee huller (removes parchment) before arriving at the coffee graders. These machines use screens with different sized holes to act as a sieve to allow the coffee to be classified by size.
The thought behind coffee bean classification is that coffees of the highest altitudes (often viewed as the most tasty and highest quality) are more dense and larger in size. This theory may not always be the case as there are numerous exceptions to this thinking; however, this size classification does verify that the coffee lot is the same size. This means that all the coffee will roast uniformly, creating a consistent flavor among all the coffee beans.
From smallest to largest, the grading system in Africa follows this scale — PB (Peaberry), C, AB, AA, and E (Elephant, which usually are 2 seeds that are joined together in the same coffee cherry). After grading is completed, AA and AB coffee beans are processed using gravity tables. These tables will detect the density one more time, so producers can define the lower quality beans and remove them. Now that you understand a little more about what “AA” means, let’s chat about Sunbird Kenya.
Directly sourced from the New Mitaboni Cooperative, Sunbird tastes like an elevated lemon drop. It has the sweet acidity of Meyer lemon paired with delicate, floral notes of coffee blossom and jasmine honeysuckle, and a creamy, white tea-like body. Located in Kirinyaga, Kenya, 578 farmers are part of the New Mitaboni FCS Co-op. New Mitaboni is the largest cooperative in the lower eastern area in terms of production. Their core improvements are the volume and quality of the coffee. Moreover, they work on balancing gender of the employees as well as empowering young farmers. Once the cherries arrive at the Mbee factory, the farmers sort their cherries to remove the under- and over-ripes from those that are just right. Their factory has the highest elevation in their society, which sits at 1700-1800 masl. The cherries are then brought to the pulping unit, where they are pulped and then fermented overnight. After the fermentation, the parchment is washed and separated. All that work pays off in this gem of a Kenyan coffee we’re sure you’ll love.
Sunbird Kenya AA is a coffee that truly sings. Get a one-pound bag for $22 or a five-pound bag for $90 at stonecreekcoffee.com when you click on the button below. Bonus points for the free carbon neutral shipping via UPS Ground. And if you grab a five-pound bag before January 25th, 2021 you can get it for only $75!
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