Harvest notes: 2024 main crop.

The main crop — the larger of Kenya's two annual harvests, picked as the rains ease between October and December — is where we do most of our buying for the year ahead. Every lot that reaches our Nairobi roastery gets cupped at least twice before it earns a place in a Baobab bag, and this season's cupping notes told a clear story: two origins, two very different personalities, both working at their best.

Nyeri: bright and floral

At 1,700 to 1,800 metres on the slopes below Mount Kenya, Nyeri's cool nights and deep volcanic soils did exactly what they always do — slowed the cherry down and packed in sugar. This season's lots came in with the blackcurrant acidity Nyeri is known for, but with an added floral lift on the nose that our cuppers flagged as unusually pronounced. It's the kind of lot that makes its way straight into our Gourmet Blend.

Kirinyaga: the densest beans in five years

Further along the ridge, Kirinyaga's washing stations delivered something rarer: bean density our head roaster hadn't seen since 2019. Dense beans mean slower, more even roasts and a correspondingly deeper, more structured cup — dark cocoa through the middle, with the bright acidity and clean citrus finish that define the Baobab house style staying firmly intact.

What this means for your cup

Every lot from this harvest was fully washed — cherries pulped, fermented, and dried on raised beds — which is what gives Kenyan coffee its trademark clarity rather than the heavier, fruitier profile you get from natural-processed lots. Combined with this season's unusually strong cupping scores out of both Nyeri and Kirinyaga, 2024's main crop is shaping up to be one of the stronger years we've roasted.

As always, nothing goes into a Baobab bag that hasn't earned it on the cupping table first — harvest quality is a starting point, not a guarantee.