Kenya Auction Lot 668 -Kiaguthu Peaberry

[liralen]

Bought: For my birthday! :-) By my husband, arrived 10/10/05, bought from Sweet Maria's. I'd asked for a Kenyan coffee, just to see what the fuss is all about for Kenya AAs, but since he knows that I love peaberry coffees he bought it for me instead of one of the AA lots. The smaller berry often seems to equate to denser flavor and smoother qualities for me, though the Sweet Maria's guy says that the shape doesn't change the coffee qualities

Roasted: On Sunday (two days ago), Full City++, as I took it a few rattles into the second crack for a little bit of oil on the surface for both batches.

Brewed: 2 Tablespoons of beans in a whirly grinder. 8 ounces of boiling water (203° at altitude) through an unbleached paper filter.

Character: I love it. This is definitely not my usual bittersweet chocolate and burnt cream cuppa. This thing has bright, lively flavors but without, somehow, tasting at all soured. Grapefruit shading to licorice with a creamy body and quick, citrus finish. Surprised the heck out of me when I could not only drink it without milk, but actually liked it better that way! The scent of the beans confused me until I thought about licorice and spices and a little of citrus rind, like a curl of grapefruit rind in an espresso to cut the richness and balance it just right. With the wait of a couple of days, the body was dense and creamy and had this great coffee platform for the brightness.

Now I can see why some folks don't like Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee as much as this.

I doubt I could drink this all day, but for my single cup of the day it was a huge surprise and pleasure. I think I'll be trying more of the Kenyan coffees.

Rating: 10 of 10

Comments

Plants --

[jonsinger.livejournal.com]

You'd have to take them in during the winter, of course, but I bet they'd do okay if you kept them under something in the summer — remember that whole "shade-grown" business: they're a shrubby sorta animal, and I 'spect that your sunlight is a bit too intense for 'em.

Very interesting about the grapevine technique. There's a coffee plant at Longwood Gardens that is espaliered on a wall, and was covered in coffee-cherries when I saw it. I s'pose you could build a rather thin cold-frame, right up against the wall of your house...

If those beans were 3 years old, that is very good news! (It does explain the germination rate, which was a bit on the low side.) I may try to sprout some of my old Java Estate beans.

ADD makes me a very variable thumb — if I don't remember to take care of things, they up & croak on me. (I just lost all of my Japanese maples this summer, because I failed to notice that it wasn't raining. Dammit. 'Seiryu' got stolen last year, but I still had a 'Shishigashira' that I raised from a cutting, which took me 4 tries; an 'Akita Yatsubusa', and a 'Goshiki Kotohime', all gorgeous. All dead. Sigh.) OTOH, I just flowered a pleasant Hymenocallis that's a descendant of a seed I acquired around 1970. Smells vaguely chocolaty. Seeds take 12-13 months to sprout.

So, anyway, hugs —
jon

Re: Plants --

[liralen.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Makes sense. The sunlight will be interesting... but I have a few shaders, orchids, African violets, etc. which are all doing quite well under other things. I'll have to see...

Keen.
Liralen