Kenya - Ndima-ini AA #036

What a stunning season it's been for cracker Kenyans. We've gone deeper and wider than ever, and with this penultimate release we're getting close to bidding a fond adieu to a banner year. When we realised how good this crop was, we requested a further set of pre-shipment samples to book more lots earlier in the year, and this AA lot from the Ndima-ini factory stood out on the table for its super concentrated and jammy red & purple fruit notes. Brew Guide: Best Brewed with: Filter/Turbo EspressoLightest Roaster Influence: Classic Kenya vibes - dense, well sorted beans, able to take heat well so we absolutely yeet them through the roaster. A fraction of extra development at the end to emphasise the dark fruit character - sometimes too light and you lose acidity presentation. Best Rested: 4+ weeksFilter: 62g/L, 94°C when fresh; 92°C when restedEspresso: 18g/50g/24-28sWe're tasting: Big dark fruit aromatics - we're finding blackberry jam, tomato and rosehip tea. In the cup it's bright and fresh while hot - we're finding redcurrants, whitecurrants and gooseberry, alongside a panela sweetness, black tea and calamansi lime. As it cools becoming more sticky, concentrated and jammy - returning to blackberry jam, alongside dried mango and medjool dates. Complex, sweet and peak Kenyan tasting Kenyan.Traceability Country of Origin: Kenya Region: Nyeri, Mount Kenya Producer: 1000 smallholders in the Gakuyu Farmers Cooperative Society Farm: Ndima-ini Factory Variety: SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11, Batian Elevation: 1600 - 1700 MASL Process: Traditional Washed: Ripe cherries delivered to Ndima-ini Factory are sorted before being pulped. The parchment is then fermented overnight, before being washed and density graded, before drying on raised beds for 8-14 days. Import Partner: Nordic Approach Harvest: Crop 25/26 - Arrived EU July 26, UK September 26. New Purchasing Relationship The Story The Gakuyu farmers co-operative society was formed as a splinter group to the larger Mathira FCS in 1996, and this small co-op runs only two factories in Nyeri - Ndimaini and Kirigu. The society has a catchment area around Mukangu and Gatina, east of Karatina town in Nyeri, with the factories drawing water from the Ragati and Kirigu rivers. This is classic Kenyan production through and through - a smallholder owned co-operative society, with producers with sub-hectare sized farms growing SL cultivars alongside Ruiru 11 and Batian. The farms that supply Ndima-ini sit in the southern foothills of Mt Kenya, on the windward side of the mountain, which as a point of difference might be a small part of why it is the better performing of the two factories - Ndima-ini regularly achieves excellent results at the Nairobi coffee exchange auction