Raspberry, Red Wine, Elderflower
A natural-process Kenyan from the slopes of Mount Kenya, Kamavindi is rich, vivid and fruit-forward - raspberry and red wine depth, with a delicate thread of elderflower running through it. It rewards drinking black, and a good pour-over gives it the space to open up properly.
Fruit-forward, floral and deeply complex
Kamavindi is a natural-process Kenyan from the south-eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, grown in the Embu region by the Kamavindi Coffee Estate - a family farm now in its third generation. John Njiru Mbature and Anna Rwamba planted the first 100 trees in 1958. Those trees now number 10,000, and the care that goes into growing them shows clearly in the cup.
Cherries are hand-picked and sorted before being dried on raised beds under direct sunlight for up to seven days, turned regularly to keep the drying even. The result is a richness and complexity that earns its place: deep red wine notes, juicy raspberry and blackcurrant sweetness, and a delicate lift of elderflower that lingers. Fruit-forward and vivid, but with real depth underneath. Claire Wallace, Volcano's head roaster, calls it one of the tastiest Kenyans she's had all year, and it's easy to see why. Coffees from this estate have placed consistently in the top 10 at the World Barista Championships.
This one is best drunk black. A V60 or pour-over will coax out the lighter floral notes; a cafetière keeps things fuller and richer. If you enjoy filter coffee and lean towards fruit-forward, complex cups, Kamavindi is worth making time for.
About the Roaster
Volcano Coffee Works began with Kurt Stewart, a New Zealand-born chef, wheeling a vintage Piaggio Ape cart along a West Dulwich pavement and serving espresso to whoever fancied one. That spirit - unpretentious, curious, quietly determined - has carried through to a London roastery, two south London cafés, and a team built around the idea that good coffee should do good in the world as well as taste good in the cup.
