Description
A dynamic AA lot from Kenya's Spike Estate, packed with white grape, brown sugar, dried tamarind, and a five-spice finish.
This AA separation from Spike Estate delivers a classic, high-toned Kenyan profile with vibrant citrus structure and deeply layered sweetness. The dry grounds release warm scents of honey, caramel, and sweet stone fruit. On the sip, grounding base notes of brown sugar and maple syrup unfold into vibrant accents of juicy white grape and tart grape skins. Tangy dried fruit notes of tamarind and cranberry feed into the coffee’s sparkling acidity, transitioning into a long, sweetly-spiced finish accented by a hint of clove and five-spice.
The lot undergoes traditional Kenyan wet processing, known for producing pristine seed density and cup clarity. Fully ripe cherries are selectively hand-picked and pulped before undergoing a 16 to 24-hour dry fermentation to break down the fruit mucilage. After a thorough washing in clean water channels, the parchment receives an additional 24-hour soak in clean water to stabilize the sugars and acidity. The wet parchment is then transferred to raised African beds, where it dries slowly in the sun for 10 to 18 days, with frequent turning to ensure uniform moisture loss and flavor balance.
Cultivated on Manasseh Kibochi’s Spikes Estate, this coffee originates from the world-renowned Kiambu region in Central Kenya. Situated at high elevations between 1,700 and 1,800 meters above sea level, the estate's cool mountain climate and nutrient-rich volcanic soils promote slow cherry maturation. The AA designation indicates that these seeds were screen-sorted to isolate the largest, highest-density 17/18-size beans. Mainly planted with traditional Bourbon-derived cultivars like SL28, the estate takes advantage of ideal high-altitude microclimates to yield exceptionally complex, sugar-dense harvests.