Kenya Coffee
Kenya coffee is one of the more universally admired of coffee origins. Although Kenya produces less and less coffee every year, the coffee it does produce continues to rank among the world’s greatest and most consistent. The characteristic Kenya coffee profile is a triumph of classic refinement based on Kenya producers’ loyalty to their unique traditional coffee varieties and traditional wet processing and drying procedures. As is often the case in Ethiopia, the great coffees from Kenya are the product of disciplined cooperatives of small-holding producers.
Kenya Coffee Ratings and Reviews
The Kenya coffee reviews below are listed in reverse chronological order by review date. Only reviews published in the past five years are displayed. Click here to view older reviews of coffees from Kenya. Older reviews may no longer accurately reflect current versions of the same coffee.
Roundly bright, flowers and cocoa. Baking chocolate, passionfruit, roasted pecan, molasses, honeysuckle in aroma and cup. Delicately but intensely sweet-tart but poised in structure; light but very silky/supple in mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates in a sweet though drying finish.
Bright, richly sweet-savory. Blackberry, jasmine, oak, cocoa nib, pink peppercorn in aroma and cup. Sweetly savory structure with lively, juicy acidity; satiny-smooth mouthfeel. The flavor-saturated finish leads with blackberry and jasmine in the short; pink peppercorn and cocoa nib resurface in the long.
Sweet and savory, with intriguingly deep wood-framed pungency. Scorched sandalwood, black peppercorn, toffee, red currant, dried marjoram, wisteria-like flowers in aroma and cup. Roast-framed, deeply rich, sweet and savory yet crisply juicy in structure. Full, syrupy mouthfeel. The finish consolidates to sweet toffee, rich sandalwood, and marjoram in the long.
Price: CAD $21.00/12 ounces
Savory-sweet, richly aromatic. Red currant, hop flowers, lime zest, dark chocolate, cedar in aroma and cup. Savory-sweet structure with high-toned, juicy acidity; full, buttery mouthfeel. Cocoa-toned finish with notes of red currant and lime zest in the short, rounding to hop flowers in the long.
Rich-toned, crisply sweet-savory. Red currant, hop flowers, pink grapefruit zest, cocoa nib, sandalwood in aroma and cup. Structure is equal parts sweet and savory, with vibrant, juicy acidity; plush, syrupy mouthfeel. The finish is centered around notes of red currant and hop flowers supported by cocoa throughout.
Richly and pungently zesty. Blackberry, baker’s chocolate, mixed peppercorn, violet, lemon zest in aroma and cup. Brisk and deeply rich-toned structure with a lemon and floral inflection; full, syrupy mouthfeel. Lemon and violet with a hint of cocoa in the long, dry finish.
Briskly and richly pungent. Dark chocolate, date, cherry tomato, violet, hints of herbs and spices (sage, cumin, cinnamon) in aroma and small cup. Light and silky, though gently drying mouthfeel. Crisp, quietly resonant finish. Distinctively tart, floral-toned and rich in three parts milk.
High-toned, richly savory-sweet. Red currant, hop flowers, dark chocolate, oak, maple syrup in aroma and cup. Rich, savory-sweet structure with vibrant, juicy acidity; plush, syrupy mouthfeel. Resoundingly long, flavor-saturated finish.
Roast-rounded, savory-sweet. Ripe tomato, baker’s chocolate, scorched oak, toffee, magnolia in aroma and cup. Balanced, sweet-savory structure with gentle acidity; crisp, satiny mouthfeel. The resonant finish consolidates to notes of sweet tomato and baker’s chocolate with a hint of magnolia.
Crisply sweet, richly savory, vibrant. Red currant, jasmine, maple syrup, sandalwood, cacao nib in aroma and cup. The structure is harmoniously sweet-tart-savory with juicy, lively acidity. Plush, syrupy mouthfeel. The richly drying finish centers around red currant and sandalwood with a hint of jasmine in the long.
Very sweet, tart, musky and rich. Sugarcane, orange zest, ripe peach, gardenia, myrhh in aroma, with elegant tobacco and cocoa also emerging in the cup. Structure is deeply sweet-savory, with juicy acidity; gently drying, syrupy mouthfeel. The resonant finish is crisp and rich: cocoa, tobacco, florals and citrus zest carry into the long.
Richly sweet, deeply savory, elegantly balanced. Dried apricot, maple syrup, narcissus, sandalwood, cacao nib in aroma and cup. Sweet-tart-savory in structure with vibrant, juicy acidity; plush, syrupy mouthfeel. The finish leads with notes of dried apricot and cacao nib in the short, rounding to narcissus and sandalwood in the long.
Lavish, captivatingly complex, deeply savory-sweet. Candycap mushroom, lilac, dark chocolate, dried coconut, frankincense in aroma and cup. Structurally, the savory component, which is typically an undertone, occupies the top of the aromatic and flavor range, with deep sweetness (fruit, florals) underneath. The mouthfeel is lively and richly syrupy. The seemingly eternal finish is a quiet mirror of the cup.
Evaluated as espresso. Exquisitely aromatic: high-toned, savory and impossibly floral. Toffee, dried black currant, myrrh, lavender, fine musk in aroma and small cup. Plush, syrupy mouthfeel; big, complex finish that is equal parts sweet and savory. In cappuccino-scaled milk, a whole new mid-palate is created, something akin to a mushroom custard.
Deep, rich, roundly pungent. Lime zest, date, maple syrup, magnolia, fresh-cut cedar. Balanced sweet-tart-savory in structure, with a lime-brightened gleam of acidity. Full, syrupy though drying mouthfeel. Flavor consolidates in a robust, layered short finish, fading and drying slightly in the long.
Richly savory-sweet, balanced, layered and lively. Red currant, maple syrup, honeysuckle, sandalwood, dark chocolate in aroma and cup. Deeply sweet-savory structure with juicy, confident acidity; full, syrupy mouthfeel. Long, flavor-saturated finish centers around red fruit and sweet-spicy floral notes.
Very sweetly tart, floral-prominent and rich-toned. Lemon custard, red currant jam, tea rose, maple syrup and dried coconut in aroma and cup. Delightfully crisp and tart, though cohesively resonant in structure; very lightly though buoyantly syrupy in mouthfeel. The finish is pert and satisfying, with a lingering sweet crispness and a long aromatic trajectory.