Why we started Safari 97

My brother Shem and I drink a lot of coffee. We would go back to Kenya, drink something incredible, fill a suitcase, share a little with friends, and get through the rest faster than we meant to. Then we would spend the next few months waiting to go back. When we could not wait that long, we asked anyone we knew flying to Nairobi to bring some home for us.

Just over two years ago we started asking why we were not seeing Kenyan coffee on Canadian shelves. The more we peeled back the layers, the more excited we got, because we saw an opening. We launched a company which sells East African coffee, roasted in small batches in Calgary. The main reason is to bring down the cost of our own habit, as well as let us share coffee from our first home country with our second one.

We named it Safari 97. Safari is the Swahili word for journey. 97 is the year (1997) our family arrived in Canada, eight suitcases between four of us..

Why is there a limited selection of East African coffee on Canadian shelves?

The answer turned out to be simple. Kenya is far from Canada. Central and South America are not. Most Kenyan coffee goes to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and the coffee that does reach us here comes through a long chain of hands.

That distance costs more than shipping. It makes relationships hard. Without access to the farm, you are buying a description of a coffee instead of the coffee itself, and you may not have a way to go back to the same producer next season and ask for more of what you loved.

Shem and I were born in Kenya. We still have family and friends there, and it turns out that is the part you cannot buy. Through them we have reached producers growing genuinely interesting coffee, the kind that does not usually make it onto a container headed for Canada.

Kibano Estate is the one that made it click for us. They are relentless about quality, and it shows up in the cup. Their natural processed coffee tastes like pineapple and brown sugar, ripe and sweet, and pulled as espresso it is the best argument for this whole business that I can make.

That is the coffee that excites us. That is the coffee we want to bring here.

How we source it

The whole business runs on relationships. We work to know the farmers and producers who grow what we buy.

We buy directly from farmers wherever we can. Where we cannot, we buy through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, which is how most Kenyan coffee moves, and we still trace the lot back to the people who grew it.

Shadrack Kimani is our eyes and ears in Nairobi. He cups, he visits, he tells us what is worth chasing.

Once a lot is secured, EA Bean Co. imports it into Canada. From there it is roasted in Calgary in small batches, rested for days, then bagged once it is ready.

What is on the site today

Three coffees.

Gatuya, a washed peaberry from Murang'a. Molasses and toffee with a squeeze of orange and a hint of cola.

Ndiaini × Gatuya, a peaberry blend from two lots in central Kenya. Stone fruit and black tea, layered and clean.

Kibano Estate, the natural from Elgeyo Marakwet in western Kenya. Pineapple and brown sugar.

A peaberry, if you have not met one, is the round single bean that sometimes grows on its own inside a cherry instead of the usual pair. About five in every hundred. Denser, sweeter, sorted out by hand.

One ask

If you have the means, grab a bag and tell us what you think. All three are here.

We also work with businesses to get them good coffee at fair pricing. If you are, or you know, a cafe owner, an office manager, someone at a church, or anyone running a fundraiser, send them our way at hello@safari97.coffee.

What this blog will be

Roughly monthly. The farmers and producers we work with, how a lot gets chosen, how we brew at home, what a roast curve actually does, and what is happening in East African coffee that catches our eye.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for being here early.

Joe