Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

“Limited Edition”

Here’s the latest Small Lot coffee offering (Summer 2024) from Trader Joe’s, which is called “Kenya AA Karatu”. In Kenya, “AA” indicates the highest grade of coffee beans.

I got it to try. First off, you have to love the very attractive packaging with the African design that Trader Joe’s great designers came up with. Its Spot On as usual.

So it looks nice, but is this new Kenyan coffee any good?

In a word, yes.

Even though my personal preference is for darker roasts (as I usually make espresso style coffee drinks that have milk) I found this Kenyan small lot coffee to be quite good. When I ground these coffee beans up, the smell of the freshly ground coffee was great. Yes it seems to have those notes they mention like “black current, citrus zest and cacao”.

These African beans are done in a Medium roast, and here the description is accurate, or maybe even “Light/Medium”. The beans are cinnamon colored and dull, not shiny with any oils.

I brewed up a cup. My brewed cup of coffee was smooth with nice flavors. It made a nice cup of coffee, you know the kind where as soon as you finish it up, you immediately think about making another cup?

This coffee is worth a try especially if you are interested in good African coffees. I so much prefer this one from Kenya over the last small lot coffee from Ethiopia from a few months back which I was not a fan of. If this Kenyan coffee sounds worth trying, and I think it is, if you see it grab it while you can, as its one of their “LIMITED EDITION” coffees and will vanish at some point when they run out of it.

$9.99 (12 oz bag)

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/kenya-aa-karatu-small-lot-coffee-078341

“Once ground and brewed to your personal preferences, Trader Joe’s Kenya AA Karatu Small Lot Coffee makes a complex, yet balanced cup, with a bold, full body that’s complemented by a pleasantly citric acid structure. While it’s an excellent (albeit elevated) everyday kind of coffee, we find it serves especially well as part of a big breakfast or brunch: its bright notes of black currant and cacao make it a great pairing option with a flaky chocolate croissant, an auspicious eggs Benedict, or a tall stack of pancakes covered in fresh berries.”