Mambo Leo team
We don’t buy from a screen. From 23 February to 7 March 2026, our founders, Nathan and Erin, were back on the ground in Kenya, meeting the people behind our coffee and tasting the lots we will offer this year. Here are the highlights.
Starting with the women’s groups
The trip began on 23 February with a gathering of one of the women’s groups we work with. There was music and dancing, and there was business too: we sat down together to formalise how we work with the group going forward.
We also spent time networking with the Association of Women in Coffee Industry (Kenya), meeting the women who are shaping coffee in Kenya and sharing our own coffee with them.
On the farms in Central Kenya
In early March we walked the rows with farmers in Central Kenya, checking the green cherries that will become the next harvest. Seeing the trees, the soil and the altitude first-hand is the best way to understand why each lot tastes the way it does.
We also visited a cooperative washing station and spent time with the station staff beside the fermentation tanks, talking through how cherry is received, pulped, fermented and washed.
At the cupping table
Next came the cupping lab. Our founders sat down with professional graders to sample roast and cup new lots side by side. Only coffee that scores 82 or above makes it onto our offer list, and the notes from these sessions become the traceability sheets we send with every sample.
In the export warehouse
The last stop was the export warehouse, where graded coffee waits in stacked 60 kg jute bags for shipment. It is a good reminder of how much care goes into every bag before it reaches an Australian roastery.
What it means for the next lots
We came home with cupping notes on the new lots and a clearer picture of each farm and washing station behind them. If you would like to taste them, request a sample and we will send the current offer list with traceability sheets.
See more photos from the trip in our gallery, or read about who we are.
