Thick and fast the new coffees keep coming, its an amazing time to be in or enjoying coffee at this time. I truly believe that there has never in the history of coffee been a better time than today to enjoy specialty coffee. Now I’m not saying we are there, by a long shot I’m not saying that, but I believe we are on the right road to present some of the finest coffees to the masses. We have added a Kenyan take a look below or click here to buy

The vast majority of Kenyan coffee is sold through the government-run Nairobi coffee auction. It is difficult often to get hold of additional information on specific lots but the owner at Kitamaiyu was kind enough to provide the following.

The Kitamaiyu Coffee Estate is a family-owned farm situated outside Ruiru Town, just north of Nairobi, in an area of Kenya ideally suited to coffee production. It is located directly opposite The National Coffee Research Station, with which it shares a common river boundary. The estate has 800 acres of land devoted to coffee and is capable of producing 800 tons per year, although the 2008 yield is expected to be substantially lower due to an aggressive rehabilitation programme currently underway.

Kitamaiyu Estate has its own processing factory and often plays host to Kenyan coffee factory managers attending coffee courses at the nearby Coffee Research Station. The estate also intends to develop a full coffee milling facility.

Kitamaiyu pioneered the “no spraying” campaign in Kenya almost 10 years ago and does not use any pesticides or fungicides on its crop. It has reported good recent yields and expects that these will improve further after its entrance into a long manure purchasing programme with Farmers Choice, the largest pig producers in Kenya.

With the Gethumbwini gone and Kariga nearly gone we turned to new crop samples to find a replacement. The new crops were just a little too green (in need of some rest) and we didn’t feel ready for the range just yet. For those who were drinking the Gethumwini and Kariga over the past few months will know it was at its very best, even better than when it arrived.

So we searched to what was left and a blind cupping table (the best way) of various coffees. This was the stand out and stand up offering with our doubt.

In the cup expect melted butter with a real creaminess and viscosity that really doesn’t get away from the butter feeling all the way through. A delightful french press and a kenyan I can actually recommend for the espresso, challenging but enjoyable. Only around for a short period, will be gone as quickly as it came.