AvailableSpecialty
Kenya · Kirinyaga
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Fully washed with soak
- Grade
- AB
- Screen
- 15/16
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- 150 bags
Plum · Tomato leaf · Black tea
Specialty
Kenya Specialty Coffee
At its most typical: blackcurrant and tomato-leaf aromatics, high malic/citric acidity, dense body and a long, savoury-sweet finish.
Specialty profile
- Traceability unit
- Cooperative factory plus dry-mill outturn number
- Processing
- Fully washed with soak, Mbuni (natural), Limited experimental lots
- Altitude
- 1,400–2,100 m
- Harvest
- Main crop October–December; early (fly) crop May–July
- Export window
- December–June for main crop, with early-crop shipments from August
- Packaging
- 60 kg jute; GrainPro or equivalent liners common on specialty lots
Production is split between smallholder cooperative societies delivering to wet mills ("factories") and larger estates. Cooperative lots are usually sold by factory and outturn, which is what makes Kenyan traceability unusually granular.
What a specialty offer from this origin includes
Lot identity at the level shown above, the process detail the station records, moisture and water activity with the measurement methods stated, a screen analysis, a defect count, tasting notes, and a cupping score where the lot has been cupped — with the protocol named. We do not publish estimated scores.
Grades
Specialty grade designations
Grades used for Kenya specialty separations. They describe preparation and size — the cup is confirmed on the sample.
| Grade | What it encodes | Screen |
|---|---|---|
| Kenya AA | Flat beans retained on screen 17/18. The most quoted Kenyan grade — and the most frequently misread, because it describes size, not cup. | Screen 17–18 (≈6.8–7.2 mm) |
| Kenya AB | The combined A (screen 16) and B (screen 15) separations, and normally the largest single block in an outturn. | Screen 15–16 (≈6.0–6.8 mm) |
| Kenya PB (Peaberry) | Single rounded seeds separated by shape from the main run. Denser per unit volume, so roast profiling differs. | — |
Geography
Where specialty lots come from
Growing areas within Kenya, with the altitude and harvest timing that shape the separations available from each.
| Region | Altitude | Harvest | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nyeri | 1,600–2,000 m | October–December, fly crop May–July | Red volcanic soils between the Aberdares and Mount Kenya. Cooperative factories here produce many of the most structured and blackcurrant-driven Kenyan lots. |
| Kirinyaga | 1,400–1,900 m | October–December, fly crop May–July | Southern and eastern flanks of Mount Kenya. Dense factory network, frequently with very tight day-lot separations. |
| Murang’a | 1,350–1,800 m | October–December, fly crop May–July | Large smallholder base south of Nyeri, generally rounder and less piercing than the higher Nyeri factories. |
| Embu & Meru | 1,300–1,950 m | October–December, fly crop May–July | Eastern Mount Kenya. Meru in particular can be juicier and more tropical in profile than the classic central-highland cup. |
| Kiambu | 1,500–1,800 m | October–December, fly crop May–July | Estate-heavy area close to Nairobi, producing large, uniform single-estate lots. |
| Kisii, Bungoma & Trans-Nzoia | 1,500–1,900 m | October–December | Western Kenyan highlands. Smaller volumes, softer acidity, and generally more accessible pricing than the central highlands. |
Availability
Kenya specialty lots
- LimitedSpecialty
Kenya · Nyeri
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Fully washed with soak
- Grade
- AA
- Screen
- 17/18
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- 80 bags
Blackcurrant · Grapefruit · Cane sugar
- LimitedSpecialty
Kenya · Murang’a
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Fully washed with soak
- Grade
- PB
- Screen
- PB
- Crop
- 2025/26
- Quantity
- 60 bags
Redcurrant · Muscovado · Bergamot
Keep reading
More on Kenya
- Kenya Green CoffeeKenyan green coffee: the factory and outturn system, the AA/AB/PB grade ladder, soak processing, growing regions and how to buy Kenyan coffee well.
- Kenya Coffee Crop CalendarFlowering, harvest, processing, milling and export windows for Kenya.
- Specialty Coffee ScoringHow specialty coffee is assessed: descriptive versus affective evaluation, defect thresholds, and what "specialty" actually means commercially.
- Coffee CuppingHow professional coffee cupping works: sample roasting, grind, ratio, water, the break, and the controls that make one table’s results comparable with another’s.
- Green Coffee Sample EvaluationHow to evaluate a green coffee sample: sample types, physical analysis, sample roasting, cupping, record-keeping and what to do when a sample disappoints.
- Coffee TraceabilityHow coffee traceability actually works from plot to container: the levels of separation available, where identity is lost, and what records support each level.