Strong showing of sweetness and body, with subtle fruits, and rustic aroma. Made a stunning Ethiopian espresso that brought complex bittersweetness without overwhelming the palate. City+ to Full City+. Good for espresso.
This lot of Kenisa was one of our final Ethiopian arrivals toward the end of last year. It displays some subtle characteristics of a coffee that's been cellared, though tempered by a strong showing of sweetness, and dried fruit hints. Kenisa also makes a delicious dark roast, and the relatively mild acidic impression presents a good opportunity for Ethiopian espresso that offers complex bittersweetness without overwhelming the palate. The fragrance and aroma at City+ have layers of brown sugar, malty sweet, with a subtle note of natural dried fruit. The flavor profiles are grounded in complex sweetness that have indications of unrefined sugars, and the bittering side of caramelized sugar. The cup fades to fruited hints of slab apricots, lemon custard, and subtle notes of woody spice, and aromatic cedar in the long aftertaste. At Full City, Kenisa manages to produce a fruited under-layer amidst the bittersweet roast tone, as well as syrupy texture and sweetness. This makes a stunning espresso shot, thick and syrupy, high % cacao dark chocolate being the dominant flavor, with a note of spiced pumpkin bread, and tangy hint of canned peach.
Kenisa station is a coffee processing site run by the farmer's cooperative union we buy from in Agaro, who also manage Duromina, Nano Challa, Kedamai and others. "Kenisa" is the Oromifa word for "bee", and symbolizes the hard working people of the region. This region happens to produce some of the most incredible white honey we've tasted in Ethiopia, so the name is particularly fitting! The Kenisa station has registered 305 members since starting up 2 years ago. Initially, they set out on their own but lacked access to getting their coffee to the international market. The Agaro Union is well situated in this respect and is connecting them to a much wider network of buyers (lucky us!). We visited the site last January and the cleanliness and organization were impressive. They employ a water conserving Penagos 2500 to depulp the coffee and the machine looks brand new. We found the coffee from Kenisa to have a stone fruit flavor characteristic common to coffee from this region. Light roasts are delicious and the most vibrant cups. I noticed quite a few latent 'snaps' at the end of 1st crack making degree of roast a bit difficult to judge by sound alone. If you are shooting for a light roast, I would err on the side of caution and pull the roast 1:20 or so after 1st C begins and adjust from there.
| Region | Agaro |
|---|---|
| Processing | Wet Process (Washed) |
| Drying Method | Raised Bed Sun-Dried |
| Arrival date | September 2024 Arrival |
| Lot size | 60 |
| Bag size | 60 KG |
| Packaging | GrainPro Liner |
| Farm Gate | Yes |
| Cultivar Detail | Heirloom Cultivars |
| Grade | Grade 1 |
| Appearance | .4 d/300gr, 15+ screen |
| Roast Recommendations | City+ to Full City+ |
| Type | Farm Gate |
| Recommended for Espresso | Yes |