Kenya Mandela Estate

Why we love it: The Kenya Mandela Estate is an exceptional coffee that has a restrained acidity, depth of sweetness and is very balanced across the roast spectrum. Roasts on the lighter end are bright, but not overwhelmingly so and we tasted notes of kumquat, gooseberry, black currant and raw sugar. The more developed roast profile that we decided on tames the acidity further and amplifies the layers of sweetness with notes of black currant, toasted marshmallow, and maple. This is a versatile coffee that would work well as a deep, complex cold brew, a drip coffee, and especially as a maple and citrus sweet single-origin manual brew.

--Roasters Note: Coffee is experiential and at Blended Coffee Roasters that is one of the goals, to get you more hands-on with the coffees that are such a part of your daily! So get handsy... try a pour-over, make cold brew and find a favorite way to enjoy "YOUR" cup. Video demos, recipes & equipment recommendations coming soon!!!

Farm story: The Mandela Estate sits near the Gatamaiyo Forest Reserve in Kiambu County, Kenya. Unlike typical estates in Kenya, Mandela is a patchwork of small plots of land rented by a single owner and farm manager, Mr. Kiongo Njuguna. Its peculiar shape is the result of many years of investment and expansion in small neighboring tracks of land. The estate has two harvests each year, one in June - Aug and another in Oct-Dec, which are typical of the region. The ripening of the cherry is closely monitored and when the time is right the red cherry is handpicked and brought to the washing station down the road. The cherry is then de-pulped, washed, and dried on raised beds in the sun until it reaches the 10-12% target.