Apparently, they are famous in Kenya. Ritesh Doshi, the owner of our first stop, Spring Valley Coffee, recommended this shop to us.

We stepped inside and found a cool decor that evokes a cafe you might find somewhere on the West Coast of America.

Here again, the staff welcomed us with friendly hospitality, and even gave us a free dessert.

We’ve only visited three coffee shops. Everywhere we went, people were open-minded and full of smiles.

Though the amount of specialty coffee consumption in Kenya remains low, I felt it’s going to expand in the future.

The reason is that people seem to be having fun while working.

People gather where they find fun, and when people gather, there is more they can do, leading to many more possibilities.

That’s the same whether you are in Japan, Okinawa or Kenya.

Coffee is fun.

I realized that’s the message I want to convey to consumers and those who serve coffee.

The winner of this year’s Kenyan barista championship works here.

And here she was, Kenya’s barista champion!

#coffee_with_tess

She brewed coffee for us. Beans were being roasted next door, and a tutorial was going on. Everyone was sharing their comments and opinions. Here again, all the staff members were open-minded and taught us various things with smiles on their faces.

When I asked Tess  if she could serve us a coffee she used at the competition, she said she didn’t have it now but would prepare it tomorrow if we were coming.

I’d love to find the time to! I hope we can go.

#jowamcoffee

2022 barista champion #coffee_with_tess

true to the bean

Sounds so cool…

つづく

To be continued.

I wanted to see Kenya’s specialty coffee scene and its culture. So I looked up coffee shops that appeared to serve Kenyan specialty coffee and visited three of them.

The first stop is Spring Valley Coffee.

The shop sponsors the Kenyan AeroPress Championship 2022. Its employees ranked 1st to 3rds in last year’s Kenyan AeroPress Championship.

On October 29, the day before we arrived, there was the Kenyan AeroPress Championship 2022. Spring Valley staff came in second and third.

Sometime after we arrived at Spring Valley Coffee, the owner happened to come by. We introduced ourselves, telling him that we are roasters from Japan. Then he showed us to the back and explained what goes on inside the roastery.

He was such an open-minded person and seemed very happy as he spoke.

Spring Valley Coffeespring valley  coffee

Spring Valley Coffee

Home to the first runner-up and second runner up in the 2022 Kenyan AeroPress Championship.

To be continued.

After an hour-long flight that took off at 6:50 AM, we arrived in Kenya.

Upon arrival, we were supposed to pay in cash for arrival visas. But we had to wait for a while apparently because payment didn’t go through.

Ms. Fujii, typing away on her laptop in Kenya. She is a hidden linchpin of the team.

Such a trusty person.

She’s given us tremendous support behind the scenes. Thank you.

The sun is strong, and it gets hot during the day. But the mornings and evenings are chilly.

My stay has been comfortable thanks to the consideration and hospitality of everyone at Acacia Hills and Leon.

So comfortable that it’s Day 4 before I realized.

Going back in time,

I’ll write about Day 2.

We visited two farms that are about to offer their crops, followed by a cupping with Acacia Hills’ coffees.

Some of them were outstanding, and I shared my feedback with the producers. Leon listened carefully to our comments on his coffees, regardless of whether we liked them or not. I was impressed with how committed he is to producing good coffee and finding out what we think is good coffee and what we want.

We are going to visit another farm today and have a cupping session.

I’ve gotten to know Leon and what a standup guy he is in these past four days.

This is Pore. As always, I didn’t get around to packing until the last minute.

(I always start packing late at night, and as a kid, I started working on summer homework on the last day of the break.)

Starting today, I am going to Tanzania and Kenya with #typica_lab.

This is my first time visiting Africa.

I feel nervous, but excited at the same time.

Off I go.