Dec 06 2008
Ninja Giakanja
Hello there my coffee loving fans. This is another addition to my coffee cup family. I got this mug at the giftshop in Scotty’s Castle as we were leaving Death Valley. The day before,I had already purchased a “Death Valley” cup at the Ranger Station, but when I saw this one with the cool looking skull, I just had to get it. One can never have enough coffee cups you know.
This morning, I plan to fill this cup with some newly obtained Kenyan AA Auction lot #407-giakanja, which I purchased from Sweet Maria’s along with five another pounds of coffee (most of which I plan to roast and send to family and friends this Christmas). This Kenyan giakanja is described by Tom as having a “wild” flavor profile when compared to other Kenyan offerings, which is what drew me to the bean. Well, that and the unusual moniker- Giakanja, which to me, sounds Japanese, but after a bit of Googling turns out to be the name of the Co-operative mill in the Nyeri Region in Kenya from which this bean comes from.
The Nyeri region in Kenyan is the highest altitude which coffee is grown there and the coffees from this area have a tendency to be overly acidic in their flavor. This acidity is something that is not for everyone, but I kind of like it in relatively small doses ( like a pot or two).
I roasted this Kenyan Giakanja up in my trusty little Nesco roaster for the usual 24 minutes that I like to start off all my new roasts on, achieving a nice uniform browm city plus roast. After letting it sit a day, I brewed some up in my Chemex and then poured it into my Scotty’s Castle cup to enjoy.
At first sip, I really did not know how wild this coffee is, but then again, it is supposed to be “wild” when compared to other offerings from Kenya. It is definitely acidic as all hell, leaving my mouth cottony and dry after each swallow, with the bitter sweet flavors lingering about the sides of my mouth. As it cools in the cup, its initial taste morphs into something that is almost akin to lemon grass tea and the citrusy taste begins to linger around a bit longer.
Drinking this coffee, pushes me down the old memory lane, back to when I still resided in Lansing Michigan where I was a steady card carrying patron of a local coffee chain called Beaners (which recently changed thier name to Bigby’s). Unlike blend happy Starbucks, good old Beaner’s was much more about the single origin coffees, and one of the brews I remember quite fondly was their Kenyan AA, which tasted a lot like this, with its acidic overtones, and winey fruited undercurrents.
Ahh, those were the days.
