Bruleed Grapefruit. Chocolate Cake. Baking Spice. Viscous.

283g pack whole bean ship within 24 hours
100% specialty arabica coffee beans only
Onyx's coffee beans are at their peak 2 to 3 weeks after roasting

About this coffee: 

The Story:

In December of ‘19 we visited our friends at NKG mills just outside of Nairobi, Kenya. Christophe from NKG has been very kind to us through the seasons, during the harvest he drove us up to visit a few stations that we had purchased from in the past. While driving through Kirinyaga county, we stopped to visit the Kii factory of the Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society. The Kii factory sits on a vibrant red dirt road just outside the Githure, where trucks come in full of cherry to be dropped into a large tank to be processed. Kii is under careful management, where they uphold strict quality standards from cherry to drying. After cherries are dropped off, they’re sorted and depulped. The parchment ferments in dry tanks overnight. Once it’s been fermented, the parchment is passed through clean tiled channels, where it is washed of the last mucilage before being transferred to a drying bed. Once the coffee is transferred to the drying beds, it is labeled and turned often to ensure even drying. At the time of our visit, the Kii factory drying beds were nearly completely full. Kii operating at maximum capacity is due to the growing membership of the Rungeto FCS. Between the three factories, the coop has over four thousand members, and processes nearly nine thousand bags of coffee throughout the harvest.

Since that initial visit to Rungeto, we’ve continually purchased large swaths of their PB outturns. This season, we zeroed in on the cupping table on this peaberry lot, which is a blend of the three factories' top-quality peaberries. (Read more on peaberries below.)

Kenya Processing and The Auction System
Kenya’s coffee system is renowned for its sophistication, utilizing two main channels for selling and exporting: the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, a central auction system, and a marketer direct-sale system. Cooperatives frequently opt for the auction route, where coffees are evaluated and sold based on quality. To participate, licensed marketers receive weekly samples, allowing them to assess the coffees before bidding. We usually focus on outturns 14 to 21, which occur later in the harvest and often produce coffees with exceptional flavor and complexity.

Kenya’s coffee processing method is just as meticulous. After hand-sorting to remove under- or overripe cherries, the coffee is depulped and undergoes a two-day dry fermentation in white ceramic tanks, followed by washing with fresh water to remove the mucilage. The beans are then soaked, sorted by density, and dried on raised beds until they reach optimal moisture content. Once dried, the coffee is further sorted by size and density, which determines its grade for auction.

The AA grade (screen size 17/18) is the largest and most sought-after, often commanding the highest prices due to its size and reputation for superior quality. However, AB (screen size 15/16) coffees, which represent around 30% of Kenya’s production, can rival or even surpass AA lots in flavor. Meanwhile, Peaberry (PB), a rare formation where only one round bean develops inside the cherry, represents about 10% of production and often delivers distinctive winey, syrupy notes. Each grade, whether AA, AB, or PB, offers a unique and refined expression of Kenya’s celebrated coffee heritage, providing reason enough to return season after season for our sourcing needs.

Brewing Recipe :