It's my last week with a very positive introduction to Huckleberry Roasters out of Denver by way of 4 great bags of coffee, and I'm sending them off with Kenya Karatina. This Nyeri County coffee from SL-28 and SL-34 varietals is double washed, and are easily some of the largest heaviest beans I've used. Each bean weighs about .2 grams versus the usual .1 or less, and their huge! I love the well written and entertaining information Huckleberry provides with each coffee's description. For this one they conclude:
This is easily one of the most interesting and complex coffees in our lineup - we taste nectarine and peach, pink grapefruit, raw cane cugar, and characteristic Kenyan red currant and cranberry brightness. It's not the first coffee we'll reach for if we're looking to add cream, but if you like your coffee black, juicy, and dynamic, this should be on your hot list.
I generally think of washed Kenyan's as being more nuanced, juicy, bright, and complex, but not necessarily overly syrupy and dynamic, but this one delivery. It has one of the heavier bodies I've had in a Kenyan as pourover as of recent, and is very syrupy and sweet, I can see where they get the raw cane sugar notes from. I also think cranberry acidity and juicy are accurate descriptors, but I couldn't necessarily taste peach or pink grapefruit. Through the V60, I preferred the coffee using a pretty standard brew method:
- 1 : 17 ratio at 200F
- :30 second bloom with stir
- Pour to 200 grams, stir
- Pour two more times to final weight
- 2:30 total brew time
I tried this coffee faster, slower, hotter and cooler, and my first cups at this usual starting point were the best. I should caution though that the best cups were with the coffee about 6 days post roast, and I have seen some considerable drop off in punch after about day 10. This was not quite as apparent as espresso though.
Monster beans Kenyan beans were so dense and large.
Shots through the IMS Precision double basket were good; sweet, bright, and syrupy, but kind of felt out of balance and that the extraction could have been pushed further. An 18 gram VST basket was a little harder to tame but was ultimately more rewarding. The coffee needed a very fine grind to slow the shots down both for body and sweetness, and to tame the acidity. My favorite shots were:
- 18 grams in the 18 gram VST basket : 31 grams out
- 27 seconds at 201F
Pulling the coffee any longer resulted in bland shots that became muted and thin, and the faster shots were very unpleasantly acidic. Going really fine and running the output a bit short seemed to find the right balance of sweetness, complexity, taming the acidity, and body.
I didn't try this one in milk, partially because of their own description, and partially because the coffee was very rewarding and dynamic when you nailed it. $22 / 12 ounce bag is a bit on the high side, but it was some tasty coffee. Take advantage of their free shipping over $45.
Thanks for tuning in, hope you all have a great weekend, and be sure to check back next week for another new to me roaster that is looking very promising. Be sure to follow along on instagram and twitter, and hit the comments if you have any questions or anything you think I should dive into!
Huckleberry's packaging is pretty great!