The final leg of our East African Coffee Safari ends with Kenya. If you haven’t experienced this dark roast with blackberry undertones & crisp medium roast of a Kenya AA brew, you have been denied one of the true - & legal – pleasures in life. Let’s first find out a little about Kenya itself.

Kenya has a population of just over 30 million people. Kenya gained independence from the British Colonists in 1963. Economic growth from the 70’s to the early 90’s was very good. However, since then, the economy has become stagnant due mainly to poor agricultural policies, failure by the government to crack down on corruption & endless political scandals.

Beyond all this, I can tell you Kenya is another incredibly beautiful country in East Africa. I had the pleasure of being driven from the capital Nairobi through to the small town of Kisumu, located on the shores of Lake Victoria. After about an hour or so of driving out from Nairobi, we were suddenly confronted by the expanse of the Great Rift Valley. I just froze. The view is awesome – one of those very special sites we are sometimes fortunate enough to experience in our lives.

My dad had seen the same thing in 1939. He was just 17 & on his way to fight the Italians in Abyssinia & later the Germans in North Africa & Sicily during the Second World War. He said there were so many Red Flamingo’s on the Rift Valley Lakes that the water looked red itself. I saw it. He was not wrong.

Kenya’s flag shows a shield & spear (representing the defense of freedom) atop three horizontal bars: black (symbolizing the people), red (the blood shed during their struggle for independence) & green (their natural resources). Two thin white bars separate these bars. They symbolize peace & unity.

Kenya works hard to maintain a very high standard of coffee quality. It’s the standard that many other African coffee-producing nations try to attain. Coffee is mainly grown in the area from Mt. Kenya (17,000ft) through to the outskirts of Nairobi. The coffee is all wet-processed & sold by the size of the bean. The standard “AA” signifies the largest coffee beans. Below that comes the smaller “A” & “B” grade beans. Apparently they’re thinking of adding a “GL” grade. It would be for the very smallest bean.