NOMAD – KII#1 250g | Kenya

About This Coffee

NOMAD's KII#1 comes from the Kii washing station in Kirinyaga, one of Kenya's most celebrated coffee counties and home ground at the foot of Mount Kenya. The station takes its name from the Kii River, which supplies the clear water used throughout processing, and has operated since 1995 under the Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society — a cooperative representing more than 850 smallholders in the Kibugu district, each tending an average of 250 trees on rich volcanic soil at high altitude.

Quality control here starts at the gate: cherry is picked by hand and delivered to the station the same day, where only the densest, sweetest fruit is accepted for processing. That discipline, combined with Rungeto FCS's commitment to quality and sustainability, has built Kii's reputation as one of Kirinyaga's most reputable stations — known for clean, complex coffees with bright structure, sweetness and depth.

Processing is washed: cherries are pulped and fermented for 16 to 24 hours depending on the day's temperature, then washed clean in water drawn from the Kii River and left to soak for a further 12 hours, a step that sharpens acidity and clarity in the cup. Parchment then dries on raised beds for roughly two weeks, shaded during the hottest parts of the day and overnight to keep drying even throughout. All process water is filtered and treated before it's returned to the surrounding waterways, part of the station's wider commitment to protecting the local ecosystem.

The trees themselves are a classic Kenyan mix — SL-28, SL-34, Batian and Ruiru-11 — varieties chosen across the region for the balance of cup quality and disease resistance they offer at this altitude, from the 2024/25 harvest.

As espresso, KII#1 leans intensely sweet and tropical: dried apricot, kiwi and pineapple lead the cup, carried by bright acidity and a juicy body that fills the palate. It's a vivid, fruit-driven shot that shows Kenyan coffee at its most expressive, purely and cleanly.

Freshly roasted by NOMAD Coffee in Barcelona and imported to the UK by ROAST EDIT Co.