Single Origin Spotlight: Kenya Natural Special Reserve

You’ve seen this special reserve coffee on our shelves since December, graced with a unique label and an exciting flavor profile. With a limited supply remaining, we want to shine a light on its beautiful story and a new premium single origin coffee that just hit our shelves.

This coffee comes to us from the Ruera Estate in Kiambu County, Kenya, that sits at an altitude of 1577 meters above sea level. It’s floral aroma, cherry acidity, and chocolatey sweetness harmonize so well, we’ve decided to offer the few remaining batches as half-gallons of Cold Brew. Much different from our normal Cold Brew offerings, this is a refreshing treat just in time for warmer Tallahassee weather. Let’s dive into why you’ll see this coffee with a higher price tag, because we think it’s well worth it.

These lots of coffee were hand-picked and sorted before being delivered to the mill. This means that all of the cherries are picked at peak ripeness, an expensive and time-consuming way to harvest coffee cherries that ensures a sweet and flavorful cup. With lots of hours spent harvesting, the Ruera Estate offers housing and childcare resources to their resident farmers, lessening the burden of harvesting seasons for families at the estate and strengthening camaraderie within the community.

The coffee industry is always working toward more sustainable practices, and the Ruera Estate leads the charge on this with goals of environmental conservation. Through soil erosion prevention, proper waste disposal, energy conservation, and reforestation efforts, the Estate is creating a better future for coffee production in Kenya.

Traditionally, Kenyan coffee does not undergo natural processing methods. While this method saves on water use and can create beautifully floral and fruity coffees, it is also somewhat unpredictable, and producers may steer clear of using it, as is the case in Kenya. Having a natural process coffee from Kenya is a unique experience that sets this coffee apart even further.

We hope that you delight in this coffee as much as we do, and we can’t wait to see how the Ruera Estate further innovates their practices in sustainability and community support.

For those of you who can’t make it into the café to try our house-made Kenya Natural Cold Brew, try something new and make it at home! Our favorite way is to mix course ground Cold Brew with room temperature water in a mason jar, and steep on your counter (not in the refrigerator) for 16-18 hours. We recommend starting with a ratio of ¾ cups of grounds and 4 cups of fresh filtered water. If you weigh out your coffee, simply do a 1:4 ratio of coffee to water. Once you’ve let your coffee extract, you can then strain your Cold Brew concentrate with a cheese cloth, or through a coffee filter lined fine mesh strainer. You’ll want to dilute your Cold Brew with filtered water to taste, but we recommend 1 parts concentrate to 2 parts water.

We hope you enjoy this new offering as much as we do!

Until next time,
Lucky Goat