Crown Jewel Tanzania RFA Karatu Vohora Family Gesha Washed CJ1530 – 30775 – SPOT RCWHSE

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Flavor Profile jasmine, floral, peach, milk chocolate, strawberry, caramel, rose, apricot, orange

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Overview

This is a traditional washed Gesha from Arusha, Tanzania, produced by Vohora family. 

The flavor profile is effervescent and juicy, with delicate florals and hints of stone fruit, milk chocolate, honey, and orange. 

Our roasters found the coffee to be very delicate. We recommend using airflow and a gentle approach. 

When brewed, our barista team found the coffee to be delicious and easy to dial across all brew devices. 

Taste Analysis by Joshua Wismans  

As Gesha spreads to new regions and is cultivated more widely, we see plenty that doesn’t quite live up to the hype surrounding this esteemed cultivar. This coffee from the Vohoras proves to be worthy of prestige. A complex floral of rose and spice is met with a clementine-esque acidity, embodying what makes Gesha worthy of its lore and price.  

What makes this coffee unique from other Geshas is its incredible sweetness. Honey, fig, and milk chocolate provide a beautiful counterpoint to what is a more ‘tea-like’ varietal. Look for the floral, citrus, and sweetness to culminate in a flavor profile that finds the razor’s edge between classic and unique. 

Source Analysis by Chris Kornman 

Under the watchful guidance of sibling team Neel and Kavita Vohora, the Edelweiss and Finagro farms have begun to blossom from well-managed estate farms, spanning 1000 acres across multiple ridges of the Ngorongoro caldera in northern Tanzania, into an innovative and genre-defying coffee enterprise. I’ve worked with Neel and Kavita, and the coffees from the farms for nearly 15 years and I can definitively say that their most recent harvest is the most exciting I’ve ever tasted.   

At the vanguard of the team’s efforts are their Gesha plantings, newly matured trees giving some of the first exportable harvests this year and stunning us with their deeply floral flavors and elegant nuance. The plants were grown from seed stock related to the New World’s initial Gesha trees, first noticed on the Peterson farm Hacienda la Esmeralda in Panama in the early aughts, but brought to Costa Rica’s CIRAD facility as early as the 1960s from a research station in… wait for it… Tanzania. Neel’s befriended that research station’s current manager and has a vast trove of genetic information and historical records at his fingertips, and the data is fascinating. Needless to say, we’ll be keeping a close eye on some of the new seedlings I saw growing in the nursery at the farms on a recent visit. 

Vohora’s farms continue to innovate in processing methodology as well. Rather than resting on the laurels of tradition, nearly all of their coffee (including the commercial volumes of larger lots) goes through a cherry maceration period prior to processing. For microlots, like this Gesha, the timeframe for whole cherry “pre-fermentation” is determined specifically by cultivar, through a trial-and-error process that’s been honed into precise protocols to bring out the best in each variety. In this case, the Gesha harvest will macerate in whole cherry on raised beds under protective tarps for 4 days prior to depulping and then fermenting in tile-lined fermentation tanks. Afterwards, it is washed and dried down the hill on Finagro’s extensive raised bed network. Recently implemented protocols to “skin dry” — that is, initially dry-washed parchment under shade for 24 hours – helps protect the delicate coffee from too much sun before completing the 2-3 week drying process. After this is finished, parchment is stored in GrainPro until it can be milled in Vohora’s facility back in Arusha. 

Ngorongoro, the world’s largest unbroken caldera, looms over a verdant landscape, the shell of an ancient, ruptured volcano. Inside its walls, a wildlife conservation area cut off from much access to the outside world, is home to hordes of zebra, eland, gazelles, wildebeests, two prides of lions, hyenas, hippopotami, and scores of other local birds and mammals, including a small population of black rhino. The Maasai, among the region’s more visible residents with distinctive red flannel robes and unchanged traditions of nomadism, are frequent visitors, passing through the crater with their goat and cattle herds in tow. The caldera’s wildlife are no strangers to the farms, either. Native forest corridors on the estates allow freedom of movement for the animals as they migrate, but it’s fairly common to find damage to the coffee trees; the most frequent offenders being elephants and water buffalo. 

The Vohora’s estates are nestled into the caldera’s outer ridges, bordering the park. Since 1971, the Vohoras have owned about 1000 acres of farmland on the southern exterior slopes near the town of Karatu. Neel’s grandfather arrived from India, first working for the British colonists as a farm manager prior to the nation’s independence. Neel’s father, Ajai, heads the export business from nearby Nairobi, and Kavita runs the milling and sampling operations back in Arusha. 

You can read more about the farms in a recent blog. 

Green Analysis by Doris Garrido 

Tanzania Gesha has arrived with an average moisture content which is perfect to highlight the acidity and the florals within. It has a relatively low density and slightly lower-than-average water activity. It is noticeable in that the beans are light green, and I have found a few extra-light in color, but I did not find that this affected the taste in the roasts I have done. Also, the coffee is aligned within 18 to 16 screen size, a little small but very even which is immensely helpful when you are looking for an easy-roasting coffee. 

Diedrich IR5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

This coffee is full of delicate aromas. The flavor of jasmine held up from the beginning to the end of the cupping session. Check out Chris’ source analysis. I was so amazed when I read it, and after tasting this coffee it makes a lot of sense.  

After roasting Geshas from mainly Central America, I have found that you can roast them to highlight all the florals or remove them completely. I have not found anything in the middle. However, Chris taught me the sweet spot can be found in the Maillard reaction. This was one of the great lessons I learned from him. 

I build profiles for each coffee, and I believe that one profile does not fit all, but with some minor changes, Geshas will use a similar approach — a touch of gentleness I would say. 

With a little below-average density, I start this roast with a low charge (400F) and 70% of gas for about 5 minutes, and after a color change I drop it to 30% gas. Run the rest of Maillard and after the first crack, I killed the burners to 0% of gas and made it to the last 40 seconds of post-crack development. 

On the air settings, I started with 50% air at the beginning for around 2 minutes. I started again after the color changed, first to 50%, and a little later 100%. It was a 9:45 roast with 1:29 in post-development. With the slow approach at the beginning, I spent 55 minutes drying, 50.69% of the roast. It was a little short Maillard, but I ran it with the air expecting to bring the florals, which worked simply great. On the table, florals were dominating. A lot of jasmine, blueberries, lemongrass, coriander, apple juice, soft red berries, and a juicy coffee, with a tasty complexity on the sweetness.  

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! 

Always thrilled to roast a Gesha! I only had 300g to work with in this roast, so I needed to take it easy. Like Doris, I wanted to take this coffee gently through the roast cycle, and began with a medium-low charge temperature, 437F. I also wanted to give this coffee plenty of airflow to really emphasize the floral notes that Gesha coffees are well known for, so I began with F3 airflow at the bottom of my roast curve. I reduced heat application from P8 just before peak RoR, increased airflow to F4 just before yellowing, and ramped down heat quite early, just a touch after yellowing. This coffee took on heat phenomenally well, and my only other move was to reduce heat to P5 and increase airflow to F5 at First Crack. I finished this small roast quite quickly at 7:32 but was able to get an appropriate distribution of time in each phase: 45% / 38% / 16% in Green, Maillard, and Post-Crack Development. 

The result was phenomenal. Mandarin orange sweetness, some forest honey spiciness, and very clear milk chocolate notes. To me, the florals were quite subtle but nonetheless present. I think with a larger batch I would be able to achieve more time spent in Maillard, and perhaps eke out more florals with a slightly shorter time spent in Green.  

There’s no wrong way to drink this coffee, but I still wouldn’t recommend a percolator. Treating this coffee gently will pay dividends, so go easy on it and savor the complex flavors within!  

https://roast.world/@egilman/roasts/M4omoXRHFCntKRQ1Gh6OF 

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. 

The Vohora family have spent decades producing coffee and weaving innovation into their practice to continue to raise the bar on the quality of the coffees they produce. This coffee is a testament to countless hours of persistence. On the nose, this coffee is floral but not overwhelmingly so. The best part is the experience as it cools. From the start, you get some juicy notes of berries and plum but soon it opens up to a bouquet of jasmine, eucalyptus, and pine.  

Our high density roast had a soft and mild body sharpened up with acidity, which one might expect of a lemonade. All held together by a layer of savory notes, eucalyptus, and pine. The low density roast leaned towards a fuller body with dark berries and plums. It had a complex and interesting undertone with a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness.  

Doris helped me with this analysis, and we differed in our preferences. Doris favored the lower acidity and complex flavors of the low density roast. I enjoyed the higher acidity of the high density roast paired with the forest-like florals and slight savory finish. I thought it made for a more interesting cup. This Gesha is a high performer on both ends of the spectrum, and you can’t go wrong with either of them. I imagine this coffee will taste particularly delicious as an iced pour-over (slightly controversial, I know). 

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 Analysis by Grace Newcomb 

Considering the whole cherry pre-fermentation process of this Gesha, and surely its complex profile, I wanted to start brewing at a lower dose of 17g just to get an idea of which direction to go. Using a V60 and a medium to coarse grind of 8.5, this coffee finished brewing at 3:20. I was surprised at how well the coffee extracted with such a low TDS of 1.20, but this first brew was plenty flavorful and exciting. There was a very mellow smokey orange chocolate note that reminded me of ganache, an earthy sweetness similar to that of dates, with subtle hints of cinnamon and rose, with a delicate airy body, and a caramelly nose. I personally loved this brew, but definitely wanted to experiment with the dose and grind a bit more.

For this second brew, I decided to stick with the V60 since it produced such a flavorful first cup, the same dose of 17g, but I decided to use a slightly finer grind and an extended bloom of 60 seconds. This extended the brew time to 3:46 seconds, as well as produced a slightly higher TDS at 1.23. The coffee extracted quite nicely, producing a light, yet juicy tea-like body tasting of tangy peach and stone fruit, with delicate floral notes, and a milk chocolatey sweetness.

So far we have two very lovely brews, but I wanted to see if we could potentially extract some deeper fruit notes using a higher dose, the same grind setting, but taking the bloom back down to a standard 40 seconds. Using a tried-and-true V60, with a brew time of 3:15, and a TDS of 1.23, this coffee ended up being under-extracted. Although we were still able to taste some lovely floral notes, the body was far less juicy, and the orange and chocolate notes that were sweeter in the first two brews were more on the bitter side this time around. There was also a smokey element that reminded me of Irish black tea. I normally love a tea-light pour-over, but I felt like overall the fruit in this brew was a little muted. 

For my last brew, I used a flat-bottom brewing device (Kalita Wave), and medium to coarse grind of 8.5, an increased dose of 19g, and a 40-second bloom. With the brew time at 3:37 and a TDS of 1:38, this brew was extracted well and produced a far more chocolate-forward and caramelly cup, but carried notes of zesty citrus, spiced peach, with lovely floral notes of rose and lavender.

All in all, I felt like all these brews, under-extracted or not, produced some interesting profiles. That being said, my favorite and recommended would have to be our second for its light juicy body, zesty citrus, delicate floral notes, and hints of stone fruit and chocolatey sweetness. Using a V60, a medium grind, a dose of 17g, and an extended bloom of 60 seconds, you can certainly achieve the essence of this complex Gesha at home.   

Espresso Analysis by MJ Smith 

Coming in hot with another coffee that works amazing as an espresso! With “Gesha” in the name, the bar was set pretty high, and this coffee did not disappoint. Every shot I pulled and tasted had me wanting to lick the demitasse clean. Geshas are traditionally known for their robust sweetness, tropical fruitiness, and delicate florals, and that’s exactly what we were picking up. I’ve narrowed my results down to two recipe suggestions that have some similar characteristics but are also wildly different at the same time.  

The first recipe I want to talk about was actually the first shot I pulled. With a lower dose of 18g, a slightly higher yield of 39.5g, and a fast pull time of 28 seconds, this recipe kind of stretches the coffee out to the edges of our default recipe range. Do you believe in love at first sip? Because that’s what I experienced upon tasting this espresso. It was delightfully sweet, flavorful, and slightly effervescent. I picked up notes of peach, Cara Cara orange, sugar cookie, papaya, lemon balm, raspberry, and jasmine. I would recommend this recipe for espressos and americanos, but I think milk could muddle some of those exciting flavors. 

This next recipe would be a little better for milk-based drinks, as it has a higher dose and longer pull time and therefore possesses a little more sweetness and a little less of that sparkling acidity. It has a dose of 19g, a yield of 38g, and a pull time of 32 seconds. Upon sharing some with the rest of the barista team, we were able to pick up notes of caramel apple, crème brûlée, honeysuckle, strawberry, greengage plum, and lemon bars.  

This is no doubt an exceptional coffee no matter how you brew it, but I really do think it truly shines as an espresso. It’s easy to dial in as it tastes good at various different dials, it’s fun to drink, and it generates excitement without even trying just by having Gesha in the name. 10 out of 10. Would drink again.