NOMAD – KII#2 250g | Kenya

About This Coffee

Kenyan coffees earn their reputation on intense fruit and bright acidity, and Kii is a fine example of the style. The station sits in Kirinyaga, in the heart of Kenya's central highlands at the foot of Mount Kenya, and takes its name from the Kii River — the clean water from those slopes is what's used to process the coffee.

Kii was built in 1995 and belongs to the Rungeto Farmers Cooperative Society, which brings together more than 850 small producers in the Kibugu district. Each farmer works a small plot, often only around 250 trees, in the rich volcanic soils of the high slopes. Ripe cherries are hand-picked and delivered to the station the same day, where strict sorting means only the densest, sweetest fruit goes forward for processing. That discipline has made Kii one of the most respected stations in Kirinyaga, known for complex, clean coffees with bright structure, sweetness and depth.

The processing is careful and water-conscious. Ripe cherries are pulped and fermented for 16 to 24 hours, the timing flexed to the ambient temperature, then washed with clean river water and soaked for a further 12 hours to sharpen acidity and clarity. Drying runs about 14 days on raised beds, with the parchment covered through the hottest part of the day and overnight to keep the drying even. All the water used is filtered and cleaned before it's returned to the waterways, protecting the local ecosystem.

In the cup it's sweet and rounded: flat peach and candied lemon up front, with a herbal lift reminiscent of white tea. The body is creamy and dense, the acidity mellow and mouth-filling, and you'll find pears in syrup, flower honey and yellow kiwi alongside. The finish is long and very pleasant.

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