YAGA - Espresso

YAGA comes from Kirinyaga, on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. The region has high elevations, volcanic soil, a cool climate and a long coffee-growing tradition. Two rainy seasons shape the year here and bring the two harvests.

Our Muchagara lot grows at 1,700 to 1,800 meters above sea level. Up there, cooler temperatures slow the cherries down, so their sugars and acidity build little by little. That patience is what you taste as sweetness and clarity in the cup.

The lot brings together three Kenyan varieties. SL28 adds the wine-like fruit and red berries, SL34 gives structure, body and sweetness, and Ruiru 11 rounds things out. The cup is the result of all three together, in this one place.

The coffee is grown by smallholder farmers, who pick the cherries only once they are fully ripe and bring them to the local washing station.

There, the cherries are sorted, depulped and fermented, then washed and sorted again by density. This washed process is what makes the cup so clean and bright. Afterwards the coffee dries slowly on raised beds, where it is turned regularly and sheltered from rain and strong sun until it is ready.