Introducing Kamwangi AA

From the heart of Kenya comes a fresh harvest bursting with sugars and ripe acidity. Kamwangi AA represents some of the largest and choicest beans grown in the red volcanic foothills of Mount Kenya.

In Kikuyu, the language spoken by the inhabitants of southern and western of Mount Kenya, the three-million-year-old stratovolano is known as “God’s Resting Place.” Such is the immense beauty, wilderness, and fertility of the mountain, which produces coffees like no other in the world. Kamwangi AA is one of Mount Kenya’s finest—it was introduced only in the last three years by green importer Nordic Approach to coffee drinkers around the world, selected in cuppings against several hundred other coffees.

1,000 smallholder farmers, each with 250 coffee trees, contribute their cherries to Kamwangi. The cherries are sorted into tiers and fermented for almost a day under a warm shade. Then, the cherries are allowed to ferment in the fresh waters of the Nyamindi River; a water recirculation system ensures that runoff is kept separate and the land and river stay pristine. After fermentation, the coffee is washed, sorted, and graded by density in several water channels and then soaked in water for around 18 hours. Finally, it is sundried for 21 days on raised beds, covered during the midday heat and the chilly nights.

Kamwangi AA was roasted by April, a new roastery from Copenhagen, Denmark. Patrik Rolf, one of the most promising young roasters in coffee, opened April just last fall. Patrik is a Coffee Masters finalist and a former coach for both the 2016 World Brewers and World Barista championship who began his coffee career at Da Matteo in Gothenburg, Sweden (also his hometown). He later became head roaster at Five Elephant in Berlin. April signifies Patrik’s approach to coffee—a philosophy of fresh, vibrant flavors as well as an unyielding curiosity and drive to reinvent.

Kamwangi is an exceptionally light, clean, and very delicate coffee. Kamwangi has a dry fragrance of hibiscus flowers and retains its floral character in its wet aroma, but with more citrus coming forward. It has a crisp, forward acidity reminiscent of Granny Smith apples, and as the coffee fills the palate, the sweetness of ripe nectarine comes through. Kamwangi’s most present note is bergamot, especially on the finish.