Kenya Kii #1

Imported from Barcelona — we find these beans drink best 2–3 weeks after the roast date

Tropical sweetness with dried apricot — a washed Kenyan single origin

Kenya Kii #1 is a washed single origin from the Kii washing station in the Kibugu district of Kirinyaga, Kenya, delivered by more than 850 smallholder members of the Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society. It grows between 1,310 and 1,900 MASL on the volcanic soils at the base of Mount Kenya. This is the espresso-line lot from Nomad, roasted in Barcelona — a cup of intense sweetness and tropical fruit.

Tasting Notes

Dried Apricot · Kiwi · Pineapple
Bright acidity over a juicy body, with tropical fruit and an intense sweetness running through the cup.

Coffee Details

About This Coffee

Kii sits at the foot of Mount Kenya, in the Kibugu district of Kirinyaga. The coffee is delivered by the Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society, which brings together more than 850 smallholder members farming the land around the station.

These are genuinely small plots. An average member tends around 250 trees, planted in the deep volcanic soil of the mountainside somewhere between 1,310 and 1,900 metres.

Processing is washed, in the classic Kenyan pattern. Ripe cherry is destemmed and fermented for 16 to 24 hours, then washed with water drawn from the Kii River and soaked a further 12 hours. The parchment then goes out onto raised beds and dries for roughly 14 days.

How to Brew

Our house starting point — these are our own figures, not Nomad's.

Start here and adjust by taste rather than by the stopwatch. If the shot tastes sharp or thin, grind finer or stretch the time a little; if it turns bitter and drying, coarsen up or pull it shorter. Kenyan coffees carry plenty of acidity, so a slightly longer ratio around 1:2.5 can round the cup out.

How Much Coffee Is in a Bag?

A 250g bag gives you roughly 14 double espressos at an 18g dose, so about two weeks of a daily flat white — or a little over a week if there are two of you on the machine each morning. Brewing filter instead at 15g a cup, the same bag makes about 16 cups.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it better for espresso or filter?
This is the espresso-line lot from Nomad, so that is the obvious place to start. Nothing stops you brewing it as filter, so it is worth trying both and seeing which you prefer.

What does it taste like?
Dried apricot, kiwi and pineapple. It is a sweet, tropical, fruit-driven cup — the body juicy, the acidity bright.

How fresh is the coffee?
Nomad roast in Barcelona and we ship on arrival. In our experience the beans are drinking at their best around 2–3 weeks past the roast date, which is usually right about when they land in your hands. Keep the bag sealed and out of the sun, and grind only what you are brewing.

What does washed processing mean?
Washed processing means the fruit is stripped off the bean before drying. Here the cherry is destemmed, fermented for 16 to 24 hours to break down the sticky mucilage, then washed with river water and soaked before the parchment dries on raised beds. Removing the fruit early means less of the fermented, jammy character you get from naturals, and a cleaner cup where the acidity and the origin itself come through clearly.

New to single origin coffee and not sure where to start? Try the Taster Box to find your profile first. Brewing for a team? See our Office & Bulk Coffee. Free shipping within Peninsular Malaysia on orders over RM80 (RM150 for East Malaysia).