{"title":"X-Variable Microlots","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"kahirani-revival-x-variable-microlot-6-oz","title":"Kahiraini Revival \/\/ Anaerobic Natural X-Variable Microlot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eX-VARIABLE MICROLOT #03\u003c\/strong\u003e  |  Lot KR005  |  6 oz \/ 170 g\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLast year this was a top 5 cup of the year. This year we doubled it, and it got better.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRevival is the root of this drop.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PEOPLE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKahiraini sits in Mathira, in Nyeri, on the western side of Mt. Kenya. In the nineties it was part of one of the largest cooperatives in the country. Six hundred farmers. Half a million kilos a year. Coffee the region is still known for.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen the price collapsed. Farmers walked away from their own trees because the work stopped paying. The factory stayed open as a collection point, taking in whatever few kilos still came, and shipping them somewhere else to be processed. The buildings sat. Some were stripped for parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 2021, \u003cstrong\u003eJack Ndirangu\u003c\/strong\u003e, chairman of the factory, and \u003cstrong\u003eMrs Wahito\u003c\/strong\u003e, the cooperative's secretary-manager, decided to bring it back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere is the part we cannot stop thinking about. \u003cstrong\u003eThey turned to natural process because the water pumps and the pulping equipment still did not work.\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural needs no water. What looked like a limitation became the method, and the method is why this cup tastes the way it does.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJack puts it plainly: \u003cem\u003e\"It is by His Grace that we achieved what we have now.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMembership is back to 150 and climbing. Over 70,000 kilos of cherry. In 2023 they brought in AGnimble to digitize the operation and reach buyers directly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSEVEN DAYS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis lot fermented \u003cstrong\u003eseven days\u003c\/strong\u003e, sealed off from oxygen. Seven days is a long time to trust a process you rebuilt from nothing. Too short and you get nothing. Too long and you lose the whole lot. Somebody stood there and made that call, on purpose, every day for a week.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat is the variable.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWHY WE CAME BACK\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLast year we took a chance on one lot and it landed in our top five cups of the year. This year we doubled the buy, and the quality jumped so far it is hard to believe it is the same factory. That is what happens when a producer gets a buyer who comes back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAGnimble are Rep Chain partners, and they are helping us build out digital traceability, so the record of whose hands this passed through lives somewhere other than our word for it. \u003cstrong\u003eIn 2027 we are getting on a plane to Kenya to see it ourselves.\u003c\/strong\u003e Next Rep Chain visit, same relationship, one more year deep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eX is the variable.\u003c\/strong\u003e Every small decision changes what ends up in the cup. The altitude. The picker's hands. The hour the cherry came off the tree. Seven days of fermentation. A broken water pump and two people who refused to let a place die. We name the series after the unknown because the unknown is where the ingenuity lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOrigin:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mathira, Nyeri, Kenya, 1800 MASL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProducer:\u003c\/strong\u003e Kahiraini Coffee Factory, Kahiraini Farmers Co-op\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChairman:\u003c\/strong\u003e Jack Ndirangu  |  \u003cstrong\u003eSecretary-manager:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mrs Wahito\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProcess:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural anaerobic, 7 day fermentation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVarietals:\u003c\/strong\u003e SL28, SL34, Ruiru 11\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSourced through:\u003c\/strong\u003e Nsidibe Etim, AGnimble\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWe taste:\u003c\/strong\u003e Honeydew melon. Persimmon. Kiwi. Muscadines. Freeze-dried strawberries. M\u0026amp;M confectioner candies. Peanut butter cookies. Dates. Cacao nibs. Bright, juicy, bouncy, deep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe grew up being told Arabica was from Arabia. This bean's true name is Ethiopica, and this lot brings that ancestral heat back home to the cup.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStart here.\u003c\/strong\u003e 180F. 1:14. Three to four minutes. That is a good place to begin, not a rule. Every coffee wants something a little different, and finding it is the fun part.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLimited.\u003c\/strong\u003e Subscribers get the first 100 bags. Whatever is left comes to the shop and the site. Kahiraini does not come back every season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoasted at Cxffeeblack, 3386 Bowen Avenue, Memphis TN 38122.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGod don't make no junk, and the coffee don't need no cream.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cxffeeblack","offers":[{"title":"6 oz \/ Whole Bean","offer_id":51917419053289,"sku":"CB-XV-KAH-6OZ-W","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"6 oz \/ Ground","offer_id":51917419086057,"sku":"CB-XV-KAH-6OZ-G","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brick \/ Whole Bean","offer_id":51917419282665,"sku":"CB-XV-KAH-BRICK-W","price":95.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brick \/ Ground","offer_id":51917419315433,"sku":"CB-XV-KAH-BRICK-G","price":95.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0246\/1427\/3104\/files\/55A078FA-DE74-4CDF-BE5A-25BCD2D1A645.jpg?v=1790807011"},{"product_id":"red-honey-hibiscus-co-ferment-pacamara-x-variable-microlot","title":"Red Honey \/\/ Hibiscus Co-Ferment Pacamara X-Variable Microlot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eX-VARIABLE MICROLOT\u003c\/strong\u003e  |  Lot FR004  |  8 oz \/ 227 g\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColombian coffee fermented in hibiscus tea.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is Mario's favorite coffee from the harvest this year, and it might just be the blackest coffee I've ever heard of or tasted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLimited edition. Our new X-Variable. Only 20 kilos here. It's part of our celebration for one year in the new building.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE PROCESS COFFEE FORGOT\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe coffee industry moves in trends and novelty. Somewhere along the way, it lost honey processing. It's still worth being curious about.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere's what red honey means. After the cherry goes through the depulper, the farmer leaves 50 to 90 percent of the sticky fruit on the seed. Then it dries slowly in the shade instead of direct sun. That slow, controlled fermentation pulls the fruit's sugars into the coffee.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Dulcey family in El Tambo, Colombia, did that. Then they fermented it in hibiscus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlack people in Colombia doing a red honey process and fermenting it in hibiscus. That's the blackest thing you could ferment a coffee in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis isn't the most specialty coffee in the world. It's uniquely itself. It tastes like some Black people were doing what they wanted to do with it, expressing the way God made them. When you drink it, you get to celebrate them, the way they processed it, and all the things God has done.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOrigin:\u003c\/strong\u003e El Tambo, Cauca, Colombia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProducer:\u003c\/strong\u003e The Dulcey family\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProcess:\u003c\/strong\u003e Red honey, hibiscus co-ferment\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVarietal:\u003c\/strong\u003e Pacamara\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRoast:\u003c\/strong\u003e Light\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWe taste:\u003c\/strong\u003e Cacao and dark chocolate up front. A dragon fruit and rhubarb finish. Fresh off the brew it smelled like Kool-Aid.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLet it cool. Trust me.\u003c\/strong\u003e When it's cool enough, it opens up even more. It pairs really great with savory food. I was eating it with breakfast and it almost came across like a wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow we brewed it:\u003c\/strong\u003e 26.5 grams of coffee, 1:14, flat bottom brewer. That's a starting point, not a rule. Play with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCome taste it on bar at the club, 3386 Bowen. When it's gone, it's gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoasted at Cxffeeblack, 3386 Bowen Avenue, Memphis TN 38122.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cxffeeblack","offers":[{"title":"8 oz \/ Whole Bean","offer_id":67751741423849,"sku":"CB-XV-RH-8OZ-W","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"8 oz \/ Ground","offer_id":67751741456617,"sku":"CB-XV-RH-8OZ-G","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brick \/ Whole Bean","offer_id":67751741489385,"sku":"CB-XV-RH-BRICK-W","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brick \/ Ground","offer_id":67751741522153,"sku":"CB-XV-RH-BRICK-G","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0246\/1427\/3104\/files\/1_year_at_home_-_17.png?v=1793150224"},{"product_id":"x-stendo-clip-extended-fermentation-x-variable-microlot","title":"X-Stendo Clip \/\/ Extended Fermentation Natural X-Variable Microlot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eX-VARIABLE MICROLOT | Lot FR005 | 8 oz \/ 227 g\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe X-Stendo Clip. A super extended fermentation from the Café Solo Collective community.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoffee fermentation is not new to Africa. It's not new to African peoples. It's not new to indigenous peoples. It's not new to our lineage, our heritage. In fact, coffee has always been a fermented food.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExtended fermentation is often credited as an innovation in the market. One of the things we learned during the Barista Exchange from Beamlak was that the Gurage people found out 500 years ago that they preferred the taste of it, innovated it, and were punished at export for it as a defect. Now the market has adopted what the origin already knew, 500 years late, and we're still missing the point.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe point isn't that we shouldn't celebrate innovation. It's that too often, because of our own preferences, lack of curiosity and blinders, aka too much sugar and cream, we miss out on the innovation and the innovators of it. We block our own opportunities for joy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis coffee is in honor and celebration of that.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt comes from one of the Café Solo Collective community projects we were able to meet. It's outside of our usual project, but we definitely wanted to share it. Big shout out to them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOrigin: El Tambo, Cauca, Colombia\u003cbr\u003eProducer: Café Solo Collective community\u003cbr\u003eProcess: Natural, extended fermentation\u003cbr\u003eRoast: Light\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe taste: Purple wild berry. Chocolate chip. Fig. Blueberry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVery fermented. Play with long ratios, like 1:19. That's a starting point, not a rule.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLimited. When it's gone, it's gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRoasted at Cxffeeblack, 3386 Bowen Avenue, Memphis TN 38122.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cxffeeblack","offers":[{"title":"8 oz \/ Whole Bean","offer_id":67799260430569,"sku":"CB-XV-XC-8OZ-W","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"8 oz \/ Ground","offer_id":67799260463337,"sku":"CB-XV-XC-8OZ-G","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brick \/ Whole Bean","offer_id":67799260496105,"sku":"CB-XV-XC-BRICK-W","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Brick \/ Ground","offer_id":67799260528873,"sku":"CB-XV-XC-BRICK-G","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/cxffeeblack.com\/collections\/x-variable-microlots.oembed","provider":"Cxffeeblack","version":"1.0","type":"link"}