Field notes from the African coffee belt.
Long-form essays on origin, taste, brewing, market and culture. Written by Shabaya Limited and friends from across the continent.
Why Kenyan coffee is a luxury product, not a grocery item
Most of the world sells coffee like sugar. Kenya grows it like wine. The case for treating Kenyan specialty as the luxury export it actually is.
Martin Shabaya · 20 May 2026
- The Kenya Coffee Guide · 5 min read
Kenya AA, AB, PB explained: a buyer's guide to the grades
Kenyan coffee is sorted into grades by bean size, not by quality alone. Here is what AA, AB, PB, and the smaller grades actually mean, and how to use the labels when you shop.
Martin Shabaya18 May 2026
- Taste & Brewing School · 5 min read
How to taste coffee like a professional
Most people drink coffee without tasting it. A simple, repeatable home protocol that trains your palate to find acidity, sweetness, body and finish in any cup.
Martin Shabaya16 May 2026
- From Farm to Cup · 7 min read
From cherry to cup: what really happens to your coffee
Every great cup is the survivor of twelve steps where it could have been ruined. A walk through the entire chain, from the day a cherry is picked to the day you brew the bean.
Shabaya Limited14 May 2026
- The Kenya Coffee Guide · 3 min read
Why Kenyan coffee tastes the way it does
Blackcurrant, tomato leaf, brown sugar, that prickle of grapefruit acidity. Kenyan coffee has a flavour signature you can pick out blind. Here's the soil, the cultivars, and the processing that make it possible.
Martin Shabaya12 May 2026
- Farmer Stories & Ethical Trade · 6 min read
The hidden cost of cheap coffee
The cheap bag on the supermarket shelf isn't cheap. It's just shifted the cost to someone else. A clear look at where the dollar actually goes, and what direct trade really changes.
Martin Shabaya10 May 2026
- Coffee Market Intelligence · 7 min read
Africa should not just produce coffee. Africa should define premium coffee.
The current model is for Africa to export raw beans and import branded coffee at ten times the price. A manifesto for African producers and entrepreneurs taking back the value chain.
Martin Shabaya5 May 2026
- African Coffee Origins · 3 min read
Africa is not one coffee origin
Roasters love to print 'Africa' on a bag as if it's a flavour. But the cup of a Yirgacheffe natural and a Nyeri washed are further apart than a Honduras and a Colombia. A field-guide to the continent.
Martin Shabaya28 Apr 2026 - Taste & Brewing School · 3 min read
Charcoal-bed espresso: the story behind Milan 2021
Pouring espresso over a literal bed of charcoal at the World Barista Championship wasn't a stunt. It was the cleanest way to deliver the Kenyan terroir story to a judging panel that had nine minutes to taste it.
Martin Shabaya15 Apr 2026 - Coffee Market Intelligence · 3 min read
Opening a cafe in East Africa: a no-nonsense checklist
After consulting on more than thirty cafe openings across Nairobi, Kampala and Kigali, here are the questions I wish every founder asked before they signed the lease.
Shabaya Limited30 Mar 2026
- Women, Youth & Coffee Futures · 3 min read
Training the next African champion
Africa has produced one WBC finalist in fifty years of the championship. The talent isn't the bottleneck. The training infrastructure is. Here's what we're building to change that.
Martin Shabaya12 Mar 2026