• Kenya - Gatomboya AB #027 [25/26]
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Scenery Coffee

Kenya - Gatomboya AB #027 [25/26]

Kenya - Gatomboya AB #027 [25/26]

Turning in a staple of our yearly Kenyan offer, we've always been massive fans of the outturns from Gatomboya factory, for many years before we started Scenery. It's a pleasure to see this coffee return each year; this year we've chosen a different profile - an AB lot with singing acidity and complex top notes, as we had a few heavy purple Kenyans already booked. We think you can split Kenya into 3 distinct "colours" now - Purple (the classic savoury rich currant/tomato vibe), Red (lighter red fruits and jammy but perhaps not quite as umami or rich), and Yellow (stonefruit, citrus and florals). This lot is emphatically the last,

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Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter

Lightest Roaster Influence: We've eased off the heat a little, subjecting these slightly smaller beans to a slightly less intense blast than we do for AA's. This has extended the overall roast time a little, but with good results - we found when we yeeted it on our standard Kenyan sample roast profile, it wanted to come out a little under & more malty tea-like than we'd prefer. A fractional more roaster influence perhaps in the cup, but all the better for it and still miles off what we'd call "Light"

Best Rested: 4+ weeks.

Filter: 64g/L, 96°C when fresh; 92°C & 62g/L when rested

Espresso: 18g/48g/18-22s

We're tasting: This year's Gatomboya lot is a little more of the modern "yellow fruit Kenya" style - we're finding floral and citric aromatics that remind us of darjeeling tea and lemon. In the cup there's yellow plum, nectarine and white mulberries as the dominant note, with a tart gooseberry esq acidity. As it cools we get lime curd, white grape, rosehip and oolong in a bright and complex cup.

Traceability

Country of Origin:
 Kenya
Region:
 Konyu, Mathira, Nyeri County
Producer:
 700 smallholders in the Barichu FCS
Farm:
 Gatomboya Factory
Variety:
 SL-28, SL-34, Batian, Ruiru 11
Elevation:
 Farm: 1400 - 2000 MASL. Factory at 1770 MASL
Process:
 Traditional Washed: Ripe cherries are handpicked and delivered to Gatomboya, where they are sorted by ripeness before pulping. The pulper (typically an Agaarde disc machine) removes skin and pulp, with the coffee graded into first and second quality as it flows down to holding tanks via density channels. Grade 1 and Grade 2 lots are fermented separately in shaded, closed tanks for 16-24 hrs. After fermentation, the parchment is washed and graded again in channels, with lower-density material floated off and removed. The clean parchment is then soaked under fresh water from the Gatomboya stream for a further 16-18 hrs. Drying takes place on African raised beds for up to 21 days, with plastic covers applied during the hottest part of the day and at night to reduce temperature damage.
Import Partner:
 Nordic Approach
Harvest:
 Crop 25/26 - Arrived UK: 07 Jul 2026 Third season purchasing from Gatomboya.

The Story

Gatomboya Factory, operated by the Barichu Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), is located in the Nyeri region of Kenya, an area renowned for producing high-quality coffee with complex flavour profiles. The factory sits at an elevation of 1770 meters above sea level, where the fertile volcanic soils, known as "Nitosol," provide ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. This commitment to quality is vital in the context of the recent challenges faced by the Kenyan coffee industry, where issues with milling and export have prevented many stellar coffees from reaching their top potential. We often talk about how as roasters we can only make it worse - the raw material quality is locked in from the chain before us. The same occurs - without good starting material, you’ll get nowhere.

Approximately 700 smallholder farmers each cultivating an average of 0.4 hectares deliver their cherry to Gatomboya. The primary coffee varieties grown in this area are SL28 and SL34, known for their deep root systems and ability to thrive in Kenya's climate. These cultivars, developed by Scott Agricultural Laboratories in the mid-20th century, have become staples of Kenyan coffee production, offering a degree of stability in a time of industry fluctuation.

Gatomboya Factory adheres to strict quality control measures throughout the processing stages. This commitment to quality, combined with the favourable growing conditions and careful post-harvest practices, results in coffee that consistently exhibits the desirable characteristics of Kenyan coffee: bright acidity, syrupy body, and deeply complex fruit flavours. It's always been one of our favourite factories in Kenya - long before even the concept of Scenery existed, back in our days as baristas it was legendary, and we're so glad to be able to showcase our own take on it.

Credit for additional farm & producer photography: Nordic Approach

Resting: If you can bear to wait, coffee stored in the bag (un-opened) for this period will improve immensely as it releases CO₂ created during the roasting process, and will be at peak flavour for several weeks following the "Best Rested for" indication.
You are of course welcome to open your coffee earlier and it should still be tasty!

Once opened, consume within 2 weeks 

We suggest that all of our coffees are best enjoyed within 3 months from the day it was roasted and indicate the "roasted on" date & "best before" date on the rear of the bag.