A little information about Kenya as an origin for coffee beans.

Although sharing border with Ethiopia ( Considered the home of coffee), Kenya did not start producing until relatively late. In 1893 coffee was first planted in Kenya by French missionaries who brought coffee trees from Réunion. At the beginning the coffee was produced in large states under British colonial rule. The production was sold in London. Kenya took control of the sales in 1933 as the Kenyan coffee board was created and in 1963 gained the independence.

Kenyan coffee has been recognised for its high-quality, the research and development is excellent, and farmers. Are highly educated in coffee production leading to exquisite flavours. Today, more than 600,000 smallholders farming fewer than 5 acres compose 99% of the coffee farming population of Kenya. Their farms cover more than 75% of total coffee growing land and produce nearly 70% of the country’s coffee. These farmers are organised into hundreds of Farmer Cooperative Societies (FCS).

There are two particular varieties in Kenya that make up for the majority of high quality coffee and  get the most attention from the speciality coffee industry are SL-28 and SL-34. Experimental varieties bred by Scott Agricultural Laboratories (SAL) founded in 1903. The downside of this varieties is the susceptibility to leaf rust. A lot of work was been done to produce leaf rust resistant variety. First Ruiru 11 was released in 1985 by Kenya Coffee Research Institute, although it was not considered as higher quality as SL by the speciality coffee industry. In 2010  the Coffee Research Institute released Batian variety which seems to be improving in quality which is leading to a growing popularity among the farmers. 

The profile of Kenyan coffees are famous of being bright, with complex fruit/berry notes, high acidity and sweetness.