Kenya: Kaplelgot Farm Coffee - Single Origin - 100% Arabica

Country - Kenya
Region – Fort Tenan, Kericho County
Process – Semi washed
Altitude - 1500 MASL
Varietal – Batian, Ruiru 11, SL28 and SL34
Tasting notes - Brown Sugar, Honey, Dried Fruit 

If you've ever visited our roastery, you'll know we adore the complexity of African coffees. We're back with another fabulous Kenyan and we've got a garland of flavour with this beautiful Kaplelgot Farm coffee. It's a full bodied coffee with notes of honey, brown sugar and dried fruit. Just lovely if you like well-defined coffee that is exceptionally fruity, this will most likely be your cup of tea …er...coffee...

We’ve always had a soft spot for Kenyan coffee, and this lot is a bit different from the usual. It comes from Lot 20, a small team working with producers in Kericho and Bomet, west of the Rift Valley. The region isn’t as well known as central Kenya for coffee, but it has a long history with some of the country’s first coffee farms starting here.

Lot 20 are trying to do things differently. Instead of going through the traditional auction system, they’re exporting coffee themselves, working directly with farmers to set up local infrastructure and build more transparent supply chains. They’ve helped establish pulping and milling facilities, a nursery for free seedling distribution, and are actively training farmers and extension workers across the area.

They’ve also been working on access to water that is essential for washed coffee. In Fort Tenan, they’ve built a small weir to manage water levels for processing and community use, and in Cheribo they’re developing a new pulping station with support from the local government. Alongside this, they’ve partnered with NCBA Bank to help farmers access financial literacy training, mobile banking, and, eventually, small farm loans.

Processing

This particular lot was processed using a semi-washed, anaerobic method. Cider yeast and banana pulp were added during fermentation to bring in some extra sweetness. The coffee was fermented for 6 days, and then dried on raised beds for around two weeks.

It’s an experimental process with a lot of care behind it, resulting in a complex coffee.