The fact that Kenya AA has consistently been one of the world’s best rated coffees means there’s a demand for it, and is a great way to introduce people to specialty coffee roasting. Whether buying for a commercial roasting operation or just your own home use, this is definitely one of the must-haves.
The high quality (and price) of the Kenya AA means that it’s not frequently used in blends, but rather simply sold as a single origin coffee.
ROASTING
The best Kenya AA coffee is often given a Medium Roast to allow the coffee’s natural brightness to shine. Roasting it darker results in a loss of the nuances that make this bean so great, though can be done for those who prefer their coffees with more “coffee” flavour.
As with any single origin Arabica coffee, fresh roasted in whatever roast you like best will deliver better results than old, stale coffee that may have been sitting in distribution warehouses and on shelves for months. When looking at buying brands from large retailers such as Amazon and Starbucks, it’s important to make sure the coffee is labeled as fresh roasted with a clear explanation about what that means – some companies label “fresh roasted when packaged”, when it could have been packaged months ago.
Organic Kenyan coffee isn’t seen very often, but not for any negative reasons. The coffee industry in Kenya is one of the better regulated, with high quality standards that do well without Fair Trade or Organic certifications.
BUYING COFFEE
The best way to buy in bulk is to buy fresh roasted, frequently. Buying hundreds of pounds just to have it sit around will cause the coffee to go stale, and orders can often by split into smaller, weekly shipments to keep the quality high. As shipping cost as a percentage of the total order gets smaller as the order size goes up, with boxes of 50-lb being shippable by common courier.
When looking for quantities in the multiple bag (132/150-lb) region, careful planning needs to be done to provide enough lead time for the supplier. A single bag needs to be shipped on a pallet/skid, but is highly inefficient as the cost for this can significantly add to the price. Typically, multiple bags should be ordered together to economize the shipping cost.
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