Nyeri is a district in the Central Province of Kenya, in Africa. I’m gonna be going there! Well, through my coffee cup, anyway! That’s right, I’m not going to physically go there and visit the place, but I just got two coffees that originated from the Nyeri area in Kenya! Yes, the Postman visited yesterday to notify me that my fifteen pound box of green coffee beans had arrived and were ready to be picked up at the main Davao Post Office, so I headed down there and picked them up right away!
Within 15 minutes after getting home with my box of beans, I was already at the stove and roasting them too! I was so excited, because Kenya is my favorite origin for coffee. The coffees from there tend to have wonderful fruit flavors as part of the flavor profile of the beans, if you roast them right. Earlier this year, I had some coffee beans from the Eegads Estate in Kenya, and they had a wonderful pink grapefruit flavor to them, which I dearly loved. Next, I got some Getthumbwini beans from Kenya, which were rated very highly, these had a lemony flavor to them. They were great too, although I liked the Eegads more.
These Green Coffee Beans are Decaf beans, and they really are quite brown!
Yesterday, I received two different beans that originated in Kenya. One was “AA Nyeri Tambaya” and the other bean was “Nyeri Ndiani -Kiagundo WP Decaf.” This is my first time to purchase any decaffeinated green coffee beans, I did it more as an experiment. My wife is bothered by too much caffeine, so I decided to give these a try.
These beans scored very high when cupped by the experts! The Tambaya scored 93 when cupped, which is the best score that I think I’ve ever had for any of the coffees that I’ve purchased. The Kiagundo Decaf scored an amazing 90.2, which is very high for a decaf!
When it comes to flavor, here is what the experts say about the Tambaya beans, this is what you should expect, if the beans are properly roasted:
An elegant cup with pink grapefruit, jasmine, light brown sugar sweetness, Mandarin orange, and warming spices. Apricot and Earl Grey tea-like finish.
And, for the decaf, let’s have a look at the flavor profile of the Nyiuri Ndiani-Kiagundo WP Decaf beans:
Vivid brightness, brilliant fruited aromatics and flavors, red apple, plum, strawberry, pineapple, caramel, molasses sweetness, cinnamon, clove spice.
So far, I have done some minor sampling of these beans, and they are both very good. I just roasted them both yesterday, so I am not drinking very much of it yet, giving it more time to rest more and develop a fuller flavor profile. But, the initial tastes are very promising! I can certainly note the mandarin orange in the tambaya beans, a nice citrusy flavor, almost juicy. The light brown sugar flavors are also quite pronounced. This is really nice. The decaf is also nice, although if I drink them side by side, the tambaya is much better at this point.
So, I am visiting Nyeri, Kenya, but is through my coffee cup! That’s a little cheaper than actually going there too!
Bottoms up!
About MindanaoBob
I love coffee Bob inspite (and also probably because) of the caffeine, though I drink only at most 3 cups in a day and mostly the 'instant' kind. Now that you mentioned Kenya coffee, my interest is sorta piqued. Now, I gotta see if there is some store here in CDO that sells Kenya coffee.
Hi James – Unfortunately, I doubt that you could find such beans locally. I have to import them. I have a friend in Iligan who is into specialty coffee, though… maybe someday you could meet him for coffee!
hello bob i had to chime in with my comment regarding COFFEE im a truck driver here in the us.. i dont live in a house i literally live in the truck i drive.. its how many of us live since we work 7 days a week and are all over the us and often months before taking time off.. well a couple years ago i decided i wanted to roast coffee beans so i had the most fresh possible.. coffee is a luxury i mean real coffee not the homeopathic stuff you get most places.. anyway i ordered a small roaster from sweet marias and some green beans.. well it worked fantastic but the problem is as you know when the beans are almost finished roasting it smokes like crazy.. well i had to roast them in the truck stop when i was taking my morning shower.. they have private shower rooms like a bathroom in a motel room. anyway id plug it in and it was roasting as i shaved and brushed my teeth.. well it started smoking like crazy and the employees would start banging on the door asking if there was a fire.. hehe i never told them i was roasting coffee beans.. i just got tired of it so i bought a vacuum machine and i get starbucks beans whole and i vacuum pack them and grind each days beans and make the coffee in the truck .. i make a mean cup of coffee.. well have a great day.. ray
Hi Ray – Ha ha… indeed there can be quite a bit of smoke when roasting coffee… it varies with the bean, but it can be a lot! I can just see those truck stop employees getting all excited thinking that there is a fire!
For me, I enjoy the roasting, and I pan roast, not a machine. So, I am very close to the roasting process… it makes me kind of feel “at one” with my coffee beans by doing that. Drinking it is great, but the roasting makes the experience all worthwhile for me!
Hi Bob
I had a holiday in Kenya in 1966. The the first breakfast I had three pots of coffee (black and without sugar). It was my first smell and taste of Kenyan coffee – heaven.
It’s true… Kenya coffee is super!