Hard Beans - Kenya Karimikui AA Top Natural Filter 250 g

Whole-bean specialty coffee from Kenya, roasted by Hard Beans from Poland. Light roast, perfect for filter coffee machines, drippers, Chemex, AeroPress, French Press, and other pour-over brewing methods. In the cup, you can expect the notes of red fruits, cherry, grapefruit and whisky.

Country of origin: Kenya

Region: Kirinyaga

Farma: Karimikui

Processing: Natural

Varietal: SL28, SL34, Batian

Altitude: 1600 – 1700 m a.s.l.

ABOUT THE FARM

Karimikui Coffee Factory lies on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya, in the Kirinyaga region. Operating since 1966, the station belongs to the Rungeto Farmers’ Cooperative Society, which also manages Kii and Kiangoi.Rungeto includes over 2,200 smallholder producers. The farms are small—according to Trabocca data, averaging around 0.1 ha. Coffee grows at an altitude of approximately 1,600–1,700 m a.s.l. on the red volcanic soils characteristic of this region.In addition to coffee, farmers also grow tea and raise livestock. The cooperative itself is developing other revenue streams as well, including milk collection. Thanks to this, its operations do not rely solely on a single coffee harvest per year.Karimikui has been one of the names regularly appearing in specialty roaster offerings for years. However, washed lots are primarily the standard. Ours is different.

ABOUT THE VARIETAL

SL28 and SL34 dominate at Karimikui, making up about 90% of the varietal material. The remaining ~10% is Batian.SL28 and SL34 have been linked to Kenyan coffee production for decades and thrive particularly well on high-altitude plantations in central Kenya. Batian is a much younger varietal, introduced in 2010. It was created partly in response to problems associated with Coffee Berry Disease and coffee leaf rust. The "AA" in the name does not denote a varietal or flavor score; it is the Kenyan screen size classification—one of the largest fractions separated during sorting.

ABOUT THE PROCESSING

Karimikui is a station primarily associated with washed processing. In the standard process, cherries are sorted, depulped, fermented for about 12–24 hours, washed, and dried on raised beds.This lot was prepared as a Natural. Whole cherries are dried together with the skin and pulp, without prior depulping. The seed is separated from the dried fruit only after drying is complete.This remains a less typical direction for Kenya, especially for stations like Karimikui that built their reputation mainly on washed coffees.

RECIPE

Proportions: 60 g of coffee per 1 liter of water

Water temperature: 93°C

Grind size: medium

Brewing time: 3:30 minutes

Method: Pour water over the coffee in 5 equal parts (e.g., 5x 60 g) at 30-second intervals.

The water should filter through the coffee completely between pours.

If the water flows too slowly or too quickly, adjust the grind size to coarser/finer.

Remember to use soft, filtered water!

Store in a cold and dry space.