Kibingo Estate is one of the farms that earned special attention from the New York-based roaster SEY last year, so they were eagerly awaiting to see what this year’s harvest would bring. It did not disappoint—quite the opposite, in fact—and confirmed that last year’s success was no fluke. In the cup, notes of dark fruit, rose hips, and lemon unfold, combining to create a profile that is both intense and pleasantly fresh, with a lively acidity that beautifully ties the entire cup together.
This is the second year that SEY has been purchasing coffee directly from Anthony Kimani, and the quality continues to meet the same high standards. Anthony is an acclaimed Kenyan producer and was one of the first to begin collaborating with Kamavindi Lab, which enabled the Mbature family to export and offer his coffee to the global market. This lot is a field blend of traditional Kenyan varieties— SL34, Batian, and Ruiru 11—although recent genetic testing on neighboring farms is beginning to challenge existing assumptions about which varieties are actually cultivated in Kenya. This is a topic that SEY continues to monitor closely, and its development may yield interesting benefits in the future.
The coffee undergoes washed processing. The cherries are hand-harvested at peak ripeness, then hand-sorted and pulped. This is followed by fermentation lasting approximately 24 hours, after which the beans are soaked and sorted by density. They are then left to rest overnight submerged in clean water and finally dried on raised beds for 15 days, during which time they are continuously turned and sorted by hand.