Christmas Post #3: Kenya Auction Lot Coffee

In the true spirit of Christmas (well, the Grinch story at least), I stole from my parents and then gave back to them.  Let me explain.  My parents are lucky members of the Peets Coffee of the Month Club, courtesy of yours truly as a recurring Christmas gift each year.  I set the frequency of delivery at one pound delivered to their door every four weeks and for the most part, that has been almost perfect timing so that they always have fresh coffee in the house that doesn't sit too long.  It came to my attention this past November that their coffee stock was building up so as a "favor", I rerouted their next pound of coffee to my address.  This past December, I "forgot" to let Peets know to return to sending the coffee to my parents' address, so I ended up with a pound of my second favorite coffee in the world, Kenya Auction Lot.When Kenya gained independence from Britain, the government developed a sophisticated and systematic process for getting their coffee grown and exported to the world.  Every week, the government of Kenya organizes an auction, and each lot of unroasted green coffee is sold to the highest bidder.  Licensed exporters are allowed to sample the lots in advance, and apparently, there are no inside deals.  There are three designations of coffee set by the government itself: AA, A, and B.  If you're buying your Kenyan coffee from a grocery store, don't take anything for granted.  When I buy it from Peets, they don't even need to tell me it's AA-coffee I'm getting.  For flavor, Kenyan coffee is generally complex and acidic, featuring wine-toned and fruity notes, a medium body thickness, and a consistent lack of "dirty" tones that you might find in an Ethiopian coffee.  The state-run process definitely contributes to a consistent and flavorful coffee.Hey, my parents got to enjoy it after all so while I might have stolen this pound from them, I grinded it, brewed it, and served it to them.