Muchoki Peaberry
Price £7.50 ( 350g )This is a sparkling, crisp peaberry lot with a ripe cherry acidity and a surprisingly full body. Tangerine, rosehip, cherry and a hint of strawberry come together to create a complex and satisfying cup.
In May 2007 we traveled down the West Coast of the US, and one of the stops was Stumptown Roasters in Portland. During our visit we got chatting to one of their roasters as they were roasting a batch of one of their Kenya lots and he kindly gave us a pound to take with us. The first time we tasted it was at Ritual Roasters in San Francisco, in a cupping alongside a couple of their Kenya lots. Whilst all the coffees were incredible the coffee from Stumptown stood out, not by being a big, fat, juicy Kenya full of blackcurrants – much like the Gethumbwini lot we used in the WBC last year – but by being elegant, light and wonderfully complex. Someone called the mouthfeel out as champagne and that stuck with me.
Of all the Kenyan lots we cupped this year, this coffee stood out and did so in a similar way. It has that wonderful mixture of acidity and the right kind of dryness reminiscent of good champagne – if anything perhaps a champagne cocktail like a Kir Royale. There is tonnes of fruit in the cup, but no one flavour dominates. We are very excited about this coffee, and have been really enjoying all the cups we’ve tasted getting it ready for sale.