Symposium Coffee Roasters are based in Norwich, Norfolk. We reviewed one of their wonderful Ethiopian coffees in March, which had some great feedback. Since then Symposium has been growing from strength to strength.

The owner Steve has a real passion for high-quality coffee and is helping spread the word of speciality coffee in Norwich and throughout the UK.

Symposium source the majority of their coffee from East Africa. A region that is famed in the speciality coffee scene for producing world-class washed coffees that produce some extraordinary flavour notes, however, it is also a region of poverty and exploitation of people and the land. 

Symposiums sustainable coffee sourcing model focuses on direct trade & sourcing through carefully selected coffee importers that encourage producers to improve the quality of their coffees meaning a higher price.

This can make a huge difference to household incomes as well as protecting the forests in East Africa. When farmers can build profitable coffee businesses, they don’t have to clear trees to create space for agriculture.

While sourcing coffees that are sustainable in coffee-growing countries is incredibly important so too is the responsibility of businesses in consuming countries to be environmentally friendly.

They use Dutch coffee Pack bags that invest in CO2-reducing projects in coffee-growing countries so the emissions that are needed to produce their bags are compensated.

Another big talking point in the coffee industry from an environmental standpoint is coffee roasting. In many cases, it is a huge gas-powered oven heated to over 200 degrees.

Symposium, however, use a Giesen W6E electric roaster which is cleaner, more sustainable and does not emit any noxious gasses compared to a gas roaster

The Rukera AB coffee from Symposium was produced at the historic Rukera Farm. Owned and operated by the countries coffee research institute, famed for developing some important coffee varietals (SL28, SL34) at their previous tenancy, Scotts Laboratories (SL) in Nairobi.

The farm was founded in 1949 and shortly after a laboratory was built onsite to research new coffee.

The research centre has remained there ever since, through various name changes and ownership. Today it is owned by Kenyan coffee farmers and the yield of the farm goes towards funding the research. The sale of this lot, therefore, has directly gone towards continued improvement in Kenyan Coffee!

The Coffee Research Institute has continued to produce some of the best coffee on offer from Kenya today, and the average annual production has always been about 1.8 tonnes per hectare.

They employee only around 5 permanent supervisors, but casual workers are employed year-round as the tasks necessitate. At the peak of the main harvest, some 300 individuals are hired for picking alone!

While producing some of the highest quality coffee in Kenyan and carrying out pioneering research in the industry, the CRI also encourage and educate local coffee farmers to better their crop and produce higher quality coffee, which in turn will grow communities.

They also offer training for people who are interested in the managerial aspect of coffee production.

The beans are fairly light in roast profile and the sweet fruity flavours are there right as you open the bag.

Brewing the coffee in all forms created wonderful sweet aromas, notes of marzipan creep out of the brewed cup.

The coffee starts with notes of vanilla and has a sweet undertone that carries through into the aftertaste.

As it cools slightly the coffee flows towards the back of your palate and squeezes juicy notes of cherries.

Finally, the coffee mellows at room temperature as becomes balanced and smooth.

A wonderful coffee that was enjoyed all the way through. It doesn’t have the wild citric acidity of typical Kenyan coffees but instead packs a bunch of delicious sweet flavours that evolve throughout the cup.

As with most Kenyans, my preferred brew was with a Pour-over or Aeropress. The mild acidity for this Kenyan though means that it does work well across the board and can express itself with a splash of milk.