KEC | ETHIOPIA LAYYOO & KENYA RIFT VALLEY
Cold Brew Bright Profile | Light roast
Tasting Notes: Tropical Fruit, Caramel, Honey
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
This coffee is a blend of two fruity African coffees: the Ethiopia Layyoo, which was a component in last month’s Bright profile, and the Kenya Rift Valley.
The first coffee in this blend is an always delicious coffee from Guji, Ethiopia. Thirty-five different farmers contributed to this lot, and they each have around 7 acres of land. After harvesting, they delivered their coffee fruit to the Raro Nensebo washing station, owned by Ture Waji. It’s called a washing station, but this coffee was actually not washed! It is naturally processed.
The other coffee in this cold brew blend comes from the Bungoma region of Kenya, in the far Western Rift Valley, on the slopes of Mt. Elgon.For some longtime Driftaway subscribers, Mt. Elgon might sound familiar: we’ve roasted another coffee for the past three years from the other side of Mt. Elgon in Uganda. The border between Uganda and Kenya actually splits Mt. Elgon in half.
Mt. Elgon is where most of the coffee in Uganda comes from, but the coffee region on the Kenyan side of the mountain, Bungoma, is not as well known. The most well known growing region in Kenya is much farther east, in the Central Highlands region on the foothills of Mt. Kenya. That’s where most of the Kenyan coffee that we are familiar with comes from - like the coffee from the Gatomboya factory that we featured in May. But the coffee grown in this region, Bungoma, has a totally distinct flavor profile from both Ugandan coffee on the other side of the mountain, which tends to taste more like chocolate and spice, and Kenyan coffee from the Central Highlands, which tastes much more like citrus and berries.
TRACEABILITY
COUNTRY
Ethiopia & Kenya
PRODUCER
Teraga & Mt. Elgon
REGION
Guji & Bungoma
Varietal
Regional Landraces & SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11
PROCESSING
Natural & Washed
ALTITUDE
2100 - 2150 meters & 1600 - 1900 meters
DID YOU KNOW
The coffee plant originated in Ethiopia. The country is the world's seventh largest producer of coffee, and Africa's top producer.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$5.25 & $4.13
Price paid by Driftaway (per pound avg. across this months coffees)
$1.40
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.24 & $1.51
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
WHY DID WE SELECT THESE COFFEES FOR THE BLEND?
Natural process coffees tend to be pretty over-the-top with their fruitiness, but the Layyoo is bright and juicy without the heavier base notes that are often present in natural Ethiopian coffees. The coffee grown in Bungoma has a totally distinct flavor profile from the rest of the growing regions in Kenya, and paired with this natural Ethiopian coffee, you get a pleasant and fruity cold brew.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
87.25 & 87.75
/100
87.25 & 87.75
SCAA Cupping Score
23 x 70 kg; 20 x 69 kg
Bags purchased
1 year
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2020)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from 18th July to 11st August in Long Island City, Queens. We typically use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts twice a week at our facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Cupping is attended by Q-certified cupper Ian T., roaster Dave H.and founder Suyog M. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.