Organic Uganda Sipi Falls
Organic Uganda Sipi Falls Filter Roast
NEW COFFEE
When Sipi Falls is fresh crop and tasty, it is just simply great filter coffee. In fact, over the last 2 weeks, I have personally drunk most of a kilo of it, whilst considering recipe, ratio, and water. We are blessed/ cursed with the best Severn Trent can offer at the end of the line at home. Our water is high on hardness and another huge subject that has changed how I look at coffee.
Although this coffee is grown organically, it won’t go into that section for a few weeks.
Top Trumps:
Farm: Kawacom Sipi Falls Sustainable Project
Varietals: SL 14 & 28 (SL28 is the varietal that helped Kenya become famous for blackcurranty coffee)
Processing: Fully washed & sun-dried (finished in mechanical driers)
Altitude: 1,300 to 2,000 above sea level
Owner: Various smallholder farmers
Town / City: Chema town, Kapchorwa district
Region: Eastern Uganda – Mount Elgon region
Roast: Standard Filter
Recipe: 60-65g per litre
Cup potential:
Aromatics: Chocolatey and sweet | Body: Light | Acidity sweet, grape|
In the cup, upfront Sipi Falls has lots of white fruit and sweet citrus. On cooling the body builds and the cup becomes a little more brown sugary and black grape. There is a subtle yet persistent long finish that really makes you feel that you have had a great cup of coffee. If you drink this right down to cold (it is part of the job, really!) The acidity returns to where it started. This is such a clean, sweet balanced cup of coffee.
Farm Stuff:
Historically, Uganda has not been known for high-quality specialty arabica coffee. Coffee quality has improved so much and I fully expect that we will see some more direct coffees coming from Uganda in the coming years.
The locals believe that God lives on Mt. Elgon – far beyond where people venture – and that when he is happy, he delivers rain to the bountiful gardens clinging to the mountainside.
Kawacom has 5000 smallholder farmers, like Rwanda, the average plot size is about half a hectare. These farmers, all keen to participate in higher-value specialty markets, were trained in criteria for socially and environmentally responsible coffee-growing practices and efficient farm management with the aim of certifying and marketing their coffee on the international scene. In 2002, the project received its very first Organic certificate – an accomplishment that has, over the years, attracted UTZ, JAS, and Rainforest Alliance certification schemes. Today, the project has expanded significantly, thanks to these successes, and reaches over 10,000 smallholder farmers, many of whom not only receive higher prices for their higher quality coffee but also participate in other social and environmental programs and cash management project.