Crown Jewel Colombia Huila Terra Verde Double Fermented Chiroso CJ1510 – 28809 – SPOT RCWHSE

Taste

Taste Analysis by Chris Kornman 

Myriad factors play into the flavor of every cup of coffee, from the source to the roast and brew style and while this coffee is no exception, I think it exemplifies an uncommonly harmonious synergy between place, process, and plant. 

Southern Colombian coffee, specifically from Huila, classically tastes like rich chocolate, with hints of lemon zest and cherry. Our team noted both lemon and cherry more than any other word during our tastings. These sweet citrus and stone fruits are rounded out by complexity lent by the coffee’s multi-stage fermentation process, and by plant type, the Chiroso cultivar, a direct descendent of Ethiopian landrace trees. 

Unique flavors of sweet peppers and black tea pair seamlessly with butter pecan, and the soft warm spice of apple pie. The complex sweetness reminded us of honey, hazelnut, and caramel. A day or less out of the roaster on the cupping table, the coffee presents as bold and somewhat savory, but these characteristics are mellowed with a few days rest and a filtered brewing method. We’re currently serving the coffee as our drip batch brew, and despite the roast’s high solubility, we’re finding the coffee pleasantly drinkable and uncomplicated despite its high level of complexity. 

It’s one of those great examples of all the elements coming together and making a flavor profile that’s more than the sum of its parts. In a lot of ways, it encapsulates the absolute best of what Huila has to offer, with its focus sharpened by precision fermentation techniques and its edges smoothed by unique plant type. 

Source

Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger  

Terra Coffee SAS is a young producer group, established in 2016, with a narrow focus on developing high quality coffees alongside select producers in the Huila and Nariño departments, and sharing them with the world. The small company manages one single producer association in each department where they work, “Ecoterra” in Nariño, with 140 producer partners, and “Terra Verde” in Huila, with 120.    

For Terra Coffee SAS as a whole, quality in coffee is very rationally understood as a direct pathway to well-being for volume-limited, small coffee farming families. Driving their business model is an understanding that quality results from small harvests have direct impacts on not just the farm owner, but the many dependents on each small farm, including young children, older adults, and the women of the household performing essential labor that often goes unpaid. By increasing quality and placing microlots in the market, Terra Coffee SAS plans not only to increase prices to growers and their families, but also increase their sense of pride in the details of their work.   

The 12 producers contributing to this coffee synchronized on a precise fermentation model. The model involves two fermentation steps at different phases post-harvest. The first occurs in the whole cherry: fresh-picked fruit is bagged and allowed to ferment for 36-48 hours, for the mucilage fibers to break down and the sugars to peak. The second phase is more traditional but still very specific: the softened cherry is depulped and fermented dry in open tanks for another 30-50 hours. Finally, the fermented parchment is lightly washed and dried in the sun. Each of the 12 producers exhaustively monitored temperature throughout to ensure each batch of coffee was homogenous with the others in order to create a focused, precise final profile.

Huila is arguably Colombia’s best-known department for top microlots. Huila’s geographical accessibility, dense population of knowledgeable farmers, warm and subtropical forests, high elevations, and microclimate diversity have for many years sustained one of specialty coffee’s most beloved regions. Huila is a long and narrow valley that follows a winding gap between two large cords of the Andes. Uphill from the valley’s lush and picturesque lower slopes (Colombia’s 950-mile long Magdalena river has its source in southern Huila and has shaped the agriculture here for centuries) are a diverse array of coffee producing communities, often dramatically steep, and each with their own unique climate and history.   

Green

Green Analysis by Chris Kornman 

From a green coffee perspective, there’s a lot to unpack here. By appearance, the coffee has a little bit of color variation – this is likely the result of the twelve different micro-processing locations. Also, due to cultivar, the beans show “longberry” characteristics. 

The plant has been called “Caturra Chiroso” and frankly there’s a lot of confusion about what it is. Let’s see if we can clear it up. Because of the tree’s short stature, an apparent affiliation with similarly dwarfed Bourbon-related mutation, Caturra (widely planted throughout the world) seems to make sense. However, the long berry and long leaf shape are atypical for Bourbon mutations. These idiosyncrasies contributed to the “Chiroso” name, which might be related to a particular elongated cheesy treat in Colombia called “achira” or perhaps a term for a stretched shirt, “chiro.” 

Genetic testing undertaken by R2DVision, under the directorship of renowned coffee geneticist Christophe Montagnon, indicates that Chiroso is in fact something more unusual than a “regression” or some other Caturra mutation. It is most closely related to Ethiopian landraces, and one of the only such accessions in recent history to display dwarfism. 

The coffee’s heritage notwithstanding, roasters will find that, in addition to shape and color, the coffee demonstrates a wide range of screen sizes (somewhat typical from Colombian microlots, which do not need to adhere to the Federation’s strictly defined Excelso and Supremo grades, e.g.). The coffee contains the unusual combination of high moisture / high water activity and very high density. 

A couple of takeaways from all this? Keep your green sealed up in storage. Watch out for a fast reaction to color changes, particularly after first crack, it’s likely a few seconds will make a huge difference. Try and keep your early and late stage roasting a little on the low and slow side to even out those visual differences a bit. And check in on our roasters’ notes for more details! 

Diedrich IR-5

Diedrich Analysis by Doris Garrido 

This Colombia Chiroso will become the light roast drip offering here at the Crown, and like many of us here I am also intrigued by this wave of coffees from Colombia that come with a special fermentation process — or in this case with an interesting cultivar: Chiroso.  

First, I did a 5.5lb. batch on the Diedrich, basically a 10:25 minute roast 46.40% on Drying, 40% in Yellowing, and 13.60% on Post crack development. I roasted it just before the San Francisco Coffee Fest, and it was at least four days until I was able to cup it. The notes we got then were green apple, apple pie, sharp lemon acidity, white wine, some florals, cherry, and nice brown sugar sweetness. Overall, a nice-tasting coffee. I was happy with the sweetness and the complexity of acidity.  

A week later I did an 18lbs. batch of the same Chiroso, this time on the F15 Loring. The first roast went great and I wanted to try a similar approach, at least before starting to roast. But it did not end up that way. I spent 49.13% on Drying, which was great since I was looking to do some kind-of-long roast. I spent 37.67% of the roast on Yellowing, a late decision made on the road looking to push the acidity. I ended up slightly shortening the Maillard portion of the roast. And with the difference in time during Post-Crack development, I ended with a similar percentage for this one: 13.2% on a roast with a final time of 8:35 minutes.  

Then I needed to cup it right away and set a table an hour after roast. Not the notes I was expecting, but I got herbal, vegetal, some dryness. It was kind of muted, with some acidity trying to show up. I know that a fresh coffee plus a fresh roast will have some of those notes, but in this case I was worried and disappointed. The next day was cupped by the team and it tasted different: A bit savory, roasted red pepper, apple butter, pecan, cherry, fresh acidity, lemon, mild cinnamon, peppery fragrance, clean finish, and silky mouthfeel.  

I came back to work on Monday almost a week after I roasted it on the Loring, and since the baristas were dialing in for drip, I got to taste it. I could not believe the improvement in flavors! Great acidity, nice lemon, plum, and orange mix with a warm caramel sweetness, and toasted almonds. At that moment I was confident that the coffee had opened up in a fantastic way. Since I cupped my first Diedrich roast after a few days of roasting and brewing it around 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks) later, I was having tastier notes. The longer roast extracted more of the caramelized sugars and balanced with the acidity, but the Loring roast after a few days expressed the better qualities of its acidity. I would say that letting the coffee rest will allow it to show better attributes. Come and taste it as a drip!  

Aillio Bullet R1

Aillio Bullet R1 IBTS Analysis by Evan Gilman 

Unless otherwise noted, we use both the roast.world site and Artisan software to document our roasts on the Bullet. You can find our roast documentation below, by searching on roast.world, or by clicking on the Artisan links below.  

Generally, we have good results starting our 500g roasts with 428F preheating, P6 power, F2 fan, and d6 drum speed. Take a look at our roast profiles below, as they are constantly changing! 

Perhaps the most understated of the three lots we’ve brought into the Crown Jewel program from this exporter, this double fermented coffee is nonetheless an atypical and delicious coffee. Accordingly, I wanted to approach this coffee with a straightforward method, making as few adjustments as possible.  

This wasn’t just because of the processing behind the coffee – the green metrics here were also a touch easier to work with. There was a decent spread of screen sizes to provide resistance, as well as higher moisture content (12%), lower water activity, and higher density than the other lots. All of these pointed towards using a firm hand in roasting. So while not a typical coffee, all signs pointed to “more heat.” 

I started with 455F charge temperature, P8 power, and F2 fan to give this coffee a nice push. At peak RoR, I reduced heat application to P7 power and increased airflow to F3. Anticipating the spike I usually see at 365F, I increased fan speed to F4, then reduced power to P6 shortly afterward. At 380F, I increased fan speed yet again to F5 and just rode out the roast! Easy as that, I got a nicely declining RoR and a 44% / 41% / 14% spread of Green, Maillard, and Post-Crack development stages. The coffee looked a little lighter than I was anticipating, but I did drop the batch around 395F so I wasn’t too surprised.  

The true surprise came when I checked my roast loss percentage, which was nearly 14%! I must have lost a few beans when dropping the coffee into the cooling tray, because for the scant amount of development in this roast I really should have seen less loss. Then again, at 12% moisture, you’re going to see higher numbers for roast loss percentage. Be prepared for that aspect of roasting this coffee. 

On the table, complex black tea notes like a Darjeeling came through, with a backing of sweet tamarind and date. The aroma took me back to the early days of my experience with coffee and was something I associate strongly with ‘coffeeness’ in general. Hard to put a finger on, but this is a coffee’s coffee! As the cup cooled, very gentle notes of lemon and candied ginger came through sweetly, lacking any spicy zip. Cold, this coffee even had a touch of floral that I missed when it was hot.  

This was a pretty fast roast as far as I usually roast on the Bullet, and I could see a more developed roast doing well as espresso – phenomenally, in fact. This coffee is subtle enough for espresso extraction to pull out the background notes, but complex enough for a single origin drip in your favorite filtered fashion.  

 You can find my roast on roast.world here: https://roast.world/@egilman/roasts/fRGVEASr9P1x2chELOK16

Ikawa Pro V3

Ikawa Pro V3 Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Our current Ikawa practice compares two sample roast profiles, originally designed for different densities of green coffee. The two roasts differ slightly in total length, charge temperature, and time spent between color change in first crack. You can learn more about the profiles here. 

Complex and sweet, this coffee is not your average cup of joe and certainly not your average Colombian coffee. We are serving this beauty on batch brew here at The Crown and every time I sip it, I wonder about how complex but easy to drink it is. With the help of Chris and Doris we can look at what Ikawa roast you should try out on this coffee.  

First up, our HD roast. With an average density green spec, it’s a wild card to see what will make this coffee perk up. The hot and fast roast of this profile brought out a fullness that I really enjoyed. We got notes of apricot, blackberry, nectarine, and white grape. A very sweet and slurpable (this is not a word, but I am adding it to Webster as we speak) roast of this coffee. The LD still had the same stone fruit characteristics like apricot, but also flavors of guava, lemon, peach tea, and grapefruit. This roast had an enjoyable crispness with a slightly cleaner body. Perhaps a more nuanced version of this coffee. The differences between these roasts shows off the diversity this coffee has to offer.  

Chris and I preferred the body and juiciness of the HD roast while Doris favored the crisp cup of the LD roast. Doris felt the roast complimented the coffee’s attributes a bit more. Grab a box and let us know which roast you try! And certainly, swing by the Crown to try our dial of this coffee.  

You can roast your own by linking to our profiles in the Ikawa Pro app here: 

Roast 1: Low Density Sample Roast 

Roast 2: High Density Sample Roast   

Brew

Brew Analysis by Katie Briggs 

Another interesting and super tasty coffee here at the Crown just in time for the holiday season! This double fermented and washed coffee from Colombia is giving us a lot of fun and interesting flavors to play around with. We got to experiment with it on our pour over bar as well as our light roast batch brew, which yielded some very tasty brews! 

The first brew we did we started with a V60 cone brewer with 19 grams of coffee and a 10 grind. We did 50g of water and 40s for the first pulse of water and the bloom, then brought it up to 200g of water, then to 300g. The final brew ended at about 4:03 with a TDS of 1.51, which is a little high for what we usually aim for. This brew gave us a mix of flavors of bright lemon, almond, juicy, but also a savory note of sweet pepper.  

We wanted to try a flat bed brewer, so we switched over to the F70 for the second brew. We did the same grind at a 10, with 19g of coffee. We did the same water ratio, starting with a 50g bloom for 40s, then up to 200g and then to 300g. This was a super fast brew ending at only 2:50, with a TDS of 1.69, which is way higher than we ideally want for a coffee. This came through in the taste as well, it was a bit heavy, had some notes of bitter lemon, cherry, caramel with the same savory sweet pepper note. 

We took it back to the V60 cone brewer for the next brew but coarsened the grind to 10.5 with the same 19g of coffee. We did a 50g pulse of water for 40s for the bloom, then brought it up to 200g, then 300g for the final dose. The brew ended at 3:50 with a TDS of 1.53, which is still a bit high but was a super tasty brew! This seemed to be a good middle ground. This brew was very juicy and drinkable, with notes of marzipan, raspberry, blood orange and caramel. 

This is a super tasty coffee for the holiday season, juicy and sweet but also a bit savory and toasty for the cold weather. We recommend a cone brewer and a courser grind to get some super tasty brews of this coffee. Be sure to come into the Crown and try it on out light roast batch brew!