Cup profile

Arrival sample tasted 28 April 2026: crisp and clean, with redcurrant, bright acidity, and transparent sweetness. Scored 88.5 on cupping.

About peaberry (PB) grade

In a normal coffee cherry, two flat-sided seeds develop facing each other. In roughly 10% of cherries, only one seed forms. That single seed grows into a small, round bean called a peaberry. In Kenya’s grading system, peaberries are sorted out during milling and classified as their own grade (PB). Because the tree’s nutrients went into one seed rather than two, peaberries are often associated with a more concentrated, brighter cup. They also roast differently from flat beans due to their round shape: they roll more in the drum and can develop more evenly with the right profile, but they do need attention since they behave differently from a standard AA or AB lot.

Origin: Gakuyi-ini factory

Thirikwa is one of the few Farmers’ Cooperative Societies in Kirinyaga that operates only a single factory, called Gakuyi-ini. The station opened in 1997 and the factory manager has been working there for approximately 20 years. During peak season, around 3,700 farmers deliver their cherries here. The factory sits at 1572 masl on clay loam soil, in an area that receives about 1400 mm of annual rainfall with average temperatures around 20.5 C.

The farmers cultivate SL-28, SL-34, Batian, and Ruiru 11 varieties. SL-28 and SL-34 are the heritage Kenyan cultivars developed in the 1930s, known for intense acidity and blackcurrant-like complexity. Batian and Ruiru 11 are newer disease-resistant varieties bred by Kenya’s Coffee Research Institute. Flowering takes place from February to April, with the main harvest running September to December. A smaller fly crop occurs in July and August.

Processing

Cherries are hand-sorted and floated before pulping. The parchment is fermented overnight, then washed and graded into P1, P2, P3, P lights, and pods. The top grades (P1 and P2) are soaked for around 16 hours before being moved to raised drying tables, where the parchment dries for 8 to 14 days. The factory recycles processing water sourced from the Kiri River, and distributes cherry pulp to its members, who mix it with cow manure to use as fertilizer.

Importer

This lot is sourced through Nordic Approach, a Scandinavian green coffee importer focused on traceable specialty lots from East Africa, Colombia, Brazil, and Central America.

Roasting notes

This is unroasted (green) coffee. Peaberries roast differently from flat beans: their round shape means they roll more freely in the drum and can develop heat more evenly, but they are smaller and denser, so charge temperature and development time may need adjusting compared to a standard Kenyan AA or AB lot. If this is your first time roasting peaberry, consider starting with a slightly lower charge temperature and extending development by 15 to 30 seconds.