KENYA - Gichuka AA

The Flavour Profile

Kenya has a reputation for producing some of the most electric coffees on the planet, and this Gichuka AA earns every bit of it. Freshly roasted to a delicate light roast by Nick in our roastery, just outside Canterbury, this is a single origin specialty coffee with a personality that stops you mid-sip. Expect an intense hit of blackcurrant — vivid, juicy, almost jam-like — balanced by the sharp brightness of grapefruit and the deep, mysterious sweetness of molasses pulling everything together underneath.

The body is light to medium, with a silky, almost tea-like texture that carries the flavours cleanly from first sip to finish. The acidity is lively and structured — that bright, citrusy Kenyan sharpness that specialty coffee lovers chase — without ever feeling harsh or overwhelming. It's refined, complex, and beautifully balanced.

Drinking it black?
This is where Kenya Gichuka AA truly shines. Brew it as a pour over, V60, or Aeropress and the blackcurrant and grapefruit leap forward — bright, juicy, and vivid. The molasses note gives just enough sweetness and depth to keep it grounded. Filter coffee enthusiasts will love this one: it's the kind of cup that makes you slow down and pay attention.

Drinking it with milk?
Add milk and the coffee softens beautifully. The grapefruit brightness mellows into something closer to orange zest, the blackcurrant deepens into a berry-sweet warmth, and the molasses becomes a gentle caramel-like sweetness in the background. It works well as a flat white or latte — unusual for a light roast, but this Kenyan has the body and flavour intensity to hold its own with milk.

Kenya Gichuka AA works beautifully across all brewing methods — V60, Aeropress, pour over, cafetière, or espresso. As a single origin specialty coffee, it's here while it lasts, so if it speaks to you, don't wait. Every bag is freshly roasted to order by Nick in our roastery, just outside Canterbury — never sitting on a shelf, never losing its spark. Buy a kilo and get 10% off automatically, and if you'd like it ground, just tell us your brewing method at checkout and we'll take care of it.

The Little Details

Kenya Gichuka AA is produced at the Gichuka Coffee Factory, managed by the Kimaratia Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), in Kiambu County — one of Kenya's most celebrated coffee-growing regions. Sitting at 1,800–1,850 metres above sea level, the high altitude and cool temperatures slow the development of the coffee cherry, producing complex, concentrated flavour. The crop is a blend of SL28, SL34, and Ruiru 11 varietals — SL28 and SL34 being the iconic Kenyan cultivars prized the world over for their extraordinary fruit character. AA denotes the largest bean grade in the Kenyan grading system, which correlates with denser, heavier beans and richer, more complex cups.

About the Process

Coffee cherries at Gichuka are hand-harvested by the smallholder farmers of the Kimaratia cooperative during the main crop season. Only fully ripe, deep red cherries are selected — pickers return to the same trees repeatedly as cherries ripen at different rates, a time-consuming but essential part of what makes Kenyan specialty coffee so consistent.

Freshly picked cherries are delivered to the Gichuka washing station on the same day, where they undergo the fully washed process. The outer skin and fruit pulp are removed by a mechanical depulper, leaving the coffee seed still encased in its sticky mucilage layer. The beans are then transferred to fermentation tanks filled with clean water, where they ferment for 24–72 hours — the exact time is carefully judged by the factory team based on temperature and conditions — to break down and loosen the remaining mucilage.

After fermentation, the beans are thoroughly washed through a series of channels using fresh water, removing all traces of mucilage. This washing stage is what defines the fully washed process: it produces a clean, bright cup with high clarity and well-defined acidity, which is exactly what you taste in the glass.

The washed beans are then spread on raised African drying beds under the sun, where they dry slowly and evenly over 12–21 days. Workers turn them regularly to ensure even drying and to remove any defective beans that appear during the process. Once dried to the correct moisture level, the beans are rested and then dry-milled to remove the final parchment layer, graded by size and density, and prepared for export. From the hands of Kiambu's smallholder farmers to your cup — every step of this process is what makes Kenya Gichuka AA the coffee it is.