Crown Jewel Rwanda Gihombo Jarama Triple Washed CJ1545 – 31719-1 – SPOT RCWHSE

Taste

Taste Analysis by Chris Kornman 

 This bright, classic Rwandan coffee from the hills of Nyamasheke overlooking the glorious Kivu Lake, is deeply sweet, elegantly clean, and zestful coffee. We’ve tasted a wide range of orangy citrus notes like mandarin or maybe melted orange popsicles, with some clear plummy support. Hints of spice and herbs like lemongrass, gingersnap, and sweet baked pumpkin pie provide complexity, while light floral and black tea aromatics create an air of elegance. 

At light roasts this coffee will shine brightest; we’re loving it in little doses as pour-overs and have it all queued up to fill our espresso grinders here at The Crown.  

I unabashedly love coffees like this, from this area in the world. I was lucky to travel to Jarama washing station in April of 2023 with partners from both Kivubelt and Ikawa House, and there’s something that’s just so gratifying about finally tasting the coffee that has undergone so much time and effort, with a little specific knowledge of the people and places responsible for its existence. If you’d like to share in that sweetness, please check out my recent story of this leg of the trip on the Royal Blog. 

Source

Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger  

One of this year’s suite of coffees from the boutique Kivubelt group in western Rwanda, this lot comes from smallholder farmers nearby to Kivubelt’s original estates. After establishing their own coffee estates in the Gihombo area, Kivubelt acquired two local washing stations to capture coffee long produced by surrounding smallholders, often grown at higher elevations than their own farms. Jarama Coffee Washing Station (Jarama CWS) is one of them, and the coffee produced here has come to be known as “People’s Farm” coffee, a clever way of illustrating the collective nature of a tight-knit smallholder community.  

Nyamasheke District  

The Nyamasheke district in Rwanda is gifted in terroir. The cool, humid climates of both Lake Kivu and the Nyungwe Forest National Park keep precipitation and groundwater abundant throughout the uniquely steep, hilly region. Kivu itself is part of the East African Rift whose consistent drift creates volcanic seepage from the lake’s bottom and enriches the surrounding soils. Coffees from this region are often fuller, jammier in balance and more layered than in the rest of the country. 

Nyamasheke, like other districts along the lake, includes breathtakingly beautiful shorelines chiseled into steeply terraced agricultural escarpments, as well as fishing and tourism industries that keep the shores lively.  

Kivubelt Coffee  

Kivubelt was established in 2011 by Furaha Umwizeye, after returning to Rwanda with a master’s degree in economics from Switzerland. Born and raised in Rwanda, Umwizeye’s goal with Kivubelt is to create a model coffee plantation, as sustainable in agriculture as it is impactful in local employment and empowerment.   

Kivubelt began with the acquisition of 200 scattered acres of farmland in Gihombo, a community in Rwanda’s Nyamasheke district that runs along the central shoreline of Lake Kivu. Under Umwizeye’s leadership, Kivubelt has planted 90,000 coffee trees on their estates, which now employ more than 400 people during harvest months and is a kind of coffee vocational school for local smallholders interested in improving their farming.    

“People’s Farm” Coffees   

After establishing their own estates, Kivubelt acquired two washing stations in the immediate area, Murundo CWS and Jarama CWS. Combined, these two stations service more than 500 smallholder coffee farmers in the region. Kivubelt offers quality premiums and training programs for participating farming families. Smallholder coffee processed at the washing stations has come to be known as “People’s Farm” coffee, to acknowledge the teamwork required of smallholders and processors who, when acting together, can have the same commanding presence as a large single estate. 

Green

Green Analysis by Chris Kornman 

2023 was a lean year for harvest in Rwanda, a country that typically exhibits exaggerated on/off biannual yield cycles. With less coffee to pick and sort, I often find these smaller harvest years to yield slightly better quality coffees – there’s less of a crunch for space at the drying tables and fermentation tanks, and it can be easier for coffees to get a little extra attention when hand sorted – either in whole cherry before processing or afterward as the parchment dries on raised beds. 

As is typical for most of the greatest Rwandan coffees, the coffee is “Triple Washed” indicating that the coffee cherries are floated and rinsed (to sort out low-density cherries as well as foreign material), washed again after fermentation is complete, and then soaked in clean parchment prior to drying. The process tends to improve cleanliness and complexity in the cup, with the added benefit of aiding the removal of any potential potato taste defect afflicted beans. 

The result here is a pristine green coffee with a standard 15+ size sort, a slightly elevated density, and very solid moisture content. I’d expect nothing less from Kivubelt, under the quality consultation of Ikawa House, who have become some of my most trusted and valued suppliers. 

Diedrich IR-5

Diedrich IR-5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

I roasted the first sample of this coffee on the Proaster, and I noticed that it reacted simply great, which let me know that I can do a simple roast on the Diedrich.  

And I was right. First, I started with a low charge of 416F and 50% of the air flow. This was my second roast of the day and because of that the drum temperature was stable. That allowed me to start with my gas movements. For this coffee was easy and simple, I started at 30 seconds of the roast time with the 100% of gas and left it for 3:47 minutes and dropped to the lowest 30%. I enjoy simple gas movements because it makes it easy to repeat. I spent the time in Maillard just looking at the rate of change lowering from 44.8/1-minute RoR to 19 to the first crack and doing no more gas adjustment.  

On the air side, I run 50% air for 2 minutes in the beginning of the roast and then opened again at 360F 50% and 100% after first crack.  

I gave it 1:31 minutes of development and dropped the coffee at 399.3F. 

I was enormously proud of my roast on the cupping table. The body was great, and the acidity turned out showing a nice tanginess. The complexity of the caramelized sweetness balanced the flavors. From the beginning I thought this coffee came with a complex flavor, and again I was right. 

To this moment I have tasted a few other roasts made on different roasters and the high-density profile we use on the Ikawa is my winner. 

I do think that this Diedrich roast ended great, but I feel the Ikawa used a little extra heat that brought out the flavor a bit more. Next week I will be roasting this coffee on the Loring, and I am going try to match the Ikawa profile. The interesting part of this is that I use density to have an idea of how the coffee is going to react in the drum, and here the density reads 689 g/l. I would translate that to a soft approach since I consider that number as low density. But because of the taste results we got on the Ikawa I would do a bit more heat to fasten the drying and I will try to stretch Maillard. 

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! 

On Doris and Isabella’s recommendation, I treated this delightful Rwanda like I would a high density coffee, though it was only slightly above average. The Ikawa roast below turned out very well, and I wanted to replicate that if I could, though the Ikawa (and the Diedrich of course) is a very different machine. That meant starting this roast off with a fairly high charge temperature (464F), decently high heat application (P8), and F2 airflow.  

I trusted the high charge temperature to move this coffee through Green/Drying expeditiously, keeping a keen eye on the rate of change to avoid any spikes. At peak rate of change, I engaged F3 fan, then again to F4 at 340F / 4:22. I reduced heat application to P7 at 363F, anticipating a spike.. And spike I got. From this point I toggled between F5 and F6 in order to squish the spike as much as possible, without much luck. It turns out that this is in fact a less dense coffee through and through! I reduced heat even further to P6 at First Crack, then rode the roast out with a very high airflow of F6.  

Despite the admittedly gnarly rate of change in this roast, the cup was phenomenal. Plenty of bright cherry tartness, hibiscus black tea flavor, raisin and date sweetness, and a finish of gentle vanilla came through. I would still advise to treat this coffee as a medium-density selection; perhaps give plenty heat in the start of the roast, but really ramp back heat moving through Maillard as this coffee will have a tendency to move quickly through the end of the roast.  

Regardless, it’s quite flexible and incredibly delicious. Can’t wait to try it as espresso on the bar at The Crown! 

You can follow along with my roast here at roast.world: https://roast.world/egilman/roasts/nK3rEUzAdgqF-RHFuD1OY 

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 

Rwandas have landed at Royal, and we are thrilled to be offering two Kivubelt coffees as part of our Crown Jewel program. This was an obvious stand out on the table with delicious with effervescent orange zest as the base accompanied by black tea, sugar cane, cherry and caramel like sweetness.  

On first pass of Ikawa roasts the high density smelled absolutely incredible. The aroma was so fragrant and lightly floral; so much so that my shock spilled coffee all over my sleeves and I had to retire my jacket for the rest of the day. The cup exceeded my expectations with tart cherry, tangy pomegranate, orange creamsicle, cream soda, brown sugar and bittersweet chocolate.  

The low density roast did not disappoint either, not quite as fragrant but deliciously floral and citrusy on the aroma with notes of white grapes, orange juice, anise, lemongrass and chamomile. A zippier version of this coffee was delicious but lacked the body of the high density roast.  

Between Doris and myself, we both prefer the high density roast by a landslide. If you are looking for a Rwandan coffee with impeccable sweetness, juiciness and complexity (the trifecta), this is the one for you! 

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 Joshua Wismans  

As one of the unsung coffee gems of East Africa, Rwanda has always been one of my favorites. Balancing a touch of Kenyan-like savoriness with the floral, tea, and delicate fruit notes of Ethiopia, this beautiful coffee from Jarama encapsulates what makes Rwandan coffee such a delicacy.

For our first brew of this coffee, we started with a relatively fine grind and a moderate dose of 19 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water. Our TDS ended up through the roof at 1.72. The flavors were slightly muddled, heavy, and bordering on bitter. This indicated to us that this coffee is fairly soluble and would require a coarser grind.  

Moving from a 9 to a 10 on our EK43s for the grind, while keeping the rest of the parameters the same, our brew still had a fairly high TDS at 1.52, but those beautiful stone fruit and black tea notes started to shine. Ultimately this was a really beautiful cup. 

Our favorite brew came though when we lowered the dose a touch bringing our TDS into a bit more traditional range. At 1.39, this coffee was illuminated with notes of Earl Grey, pomegranate, caramel, and necatarine.  

For this coffee, we recommend a flat-bottom brewer like the Kalita Wave, a slightly lower dose, and moderate to coarse grind. Enjoy!