Crown Jewel Ethiopia Gedeb Banko Gotiti Washed

Taste

Taste Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Subtly mesmerizing in flavor and notable in quality, we are loving the first 2024 arrival of Ethiopian coffee to our Crown Jewel menu. Not overburdened by heavy citrus flavors (although we also love that) we found layers of stone fruit like peach and nectarine with subtle textures of coriander, sweet basil and mint.  

Leaning less on florality to hold it up, you’ll enjoy the complex herbal notes and juicy stone fruit combination. Structurally equivalent to a black tea, the coffee carries accented fruit notes of cherry, mango and melon. Although citrus notes are not the screamer in this cup, there are layers of lemon and lime to be discovered. 

The microregion of Banko Gotiti outside of Gedeb city, despite its remote location, is highly industrious and has the infrastructure to support high caliber coffee production. Attention to detail at every step in farming, production processing, and quality control is noticeable in the cup and the green specs.   

As it rests after roasting, we noticed the coffee opens up in fruit flavors and floral notes. Taylor, on the brew analysis, knocked out an incredible brew in one go. Peach, brown butter, juicy blueberry and tropical fruit like lychee and mangosteen were all on display. Give it a bit of rest and a slightly coarser grind to see best results. This lot from Gedeb is quite the welcome to Ethiopia season. More to come!  

Source

Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger 

Banko Gotiti is part of the greater Gedeb district, which is known for its gifted processing climate and exquisite coffees, both washed and naturals. This lot was created by Siz Agro PLC, an independent exporter with select processing sites throughout southern Ethiopia.   

Gedeb and Its Coffee 

The district of Gedeb takes up the south-eastern corner of Ethiopia’s Gedeo Zone—a narrow section of plateau dense with savvy farmers whose coffee is known as “Yirgacheffe”, after the zone’s most famous district. Gedeb, however, is a terroir, history, and community all its own that merits unique designation in our eyes. Coffees from this community, much closer to Guji Zone than the rest of Yirgacheffe, are often the most explosive cup profiles we see from anywhere in Ethiopia. Naturals tend to have perfume-like volatiles, and fully washed lots are often sparklingly clean and fruit candy-like in structure. 

Gedeb is a remote but impressively industrious area for coffee production. Half of its territory is planted with coffee. Until recently coffee exports were allowed only limited channels and the vast majority of coffee grown in this area was sold by the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU), consolidated under the wide-reaching Worka Cooperative, or sold anonymously through the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). Today, however, there are increasing numbers of single farm owners and independent companies who are processing and exporting direct. Siz Agro PLC is one such group. It is an exciting time to be buying in Gedeb, where we expect to see new layers of coffee continuously unfold as its local industry accelerates. 

The city of Gedeb itself is a is a bustling outpost that links commerce between the Guji and Gedeo Zones, with an expansive network of processing stations who buy cherry from across zone borders. These processors (and we would agree) would argue their coffee profiles are not exactly Yirgacheffe, but something of their own. The communities surrounding Gedeb reach some of the highest growing elevations for coffee in the world and are a truly enchanting part of the long drive into Guji. Banko Gotiti is a large agricultural area East of Gedeb and includes union cooperative members that are cooperative-affiliated, as well independent washing stations of various types, many of which, like this one, are simply named “Banko Gotiti” after the community itself.  

Banko Gotiti Station and Processing 

The Banko Gotiti washing station represents a few hundred individual smallholders, each averaging 2 hectares apiece of farmland. On these farms coffee typically shares the land with enset—a fruit-less relative of the banana tree whose pulp is scraped and packed into cakes, fermented underground, and then toasted as kocho, a staple starch in the area.  

Washed coffee at Banko Gotiti is processed simply and with great attention to detail: fresh-picked cherry is delivered each day by contributing farmers and hand-sorted upon arrival for uniformity and ripeness. Once sorting is complete, cherry is weighed and logged, and then depulped and fermented overnight in fresh water, rinsed again with fresh water the next morning, and taken directly to raised beds to dry, a process that typically takes 12-15 days. During the drying period the coffee is constantly rotated during the day and covered at night to prevent the area’s humidity from settling on the coffee’s brittle parchment. Fully dried parchment is transported to Addis Ababa for final milling and export. 

Green

Green Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

The first Ethiopias have landed, with specs this clean you know the profile will be excellent. Just looking at the green it has the tell tale signs of an Ethiopian coffee, such cute and small beans!   

As expected from this region, density is on the higher range at 722 g/L on the Sinar. Screen size is highly condensed around 17-15. Smaller in screen size with the high density you can expect to push the heat a bit in the roaster! Water activity and moisture content are in perfect ranges to prevent staleness and keep your coffee tasting fresh!  

While there are certainly true heirloom coffees grown in much of Ethiopia, it’s also true that a relatively small number of highly controlled cultivars — both lab-crafted hybrids and selected landraces — are often the main components of specialty coffees throughout the nation. The selections have not been denoted here for us, but it’s fair to assume they are similar stock to the greater southern coffee regions, hardy and well adapted for cultivation in this, one of the world’s most coveted terroirs. 

Diedrich

Diedrich IR5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

We excitedly awaited the arrival of Ethiopian coffees, and finally Banko Gotiti just landed in Oakland! Last year’s harvest was exceptional, clean, floral, and full of berry notes. (As usual, my final roast of the production run turned out to be the most delicious.) I went back to my old roast curve, aiming to replicate those results. Recently I’ve been savoring delicate coffees with vivid floral aromas, and I knew Banko Gotiti would fit the bill. 

From last year’s success, I opted for the same short roast. The dense coffee would benefit from it. I preheated the roaster and set it to maintain 445°F. Once I got the temperature stable, I charged the coffee, using 100% gas power. Drying took just four minutes, a goal achieved, thanks to all the variables, the coffee, the roaster and batch size, the selection of charge temperature and gas applied. Now it was the time for the Maillard phase and to start reducing the pace. I lowered the gas first to 60% before the color changed and to 30% half a minute later. Although I usually will start with some airflow from the beginning, this time I didn’t plan to do it (although I would on future roasts). Around the 5-minute mark I started air at 50% and then to 100% just before the first crack. 

My aim was to keep the roast end temperature below 400°F. As the rate of change reached 21 degrees per minute at cracking, I opted to turn off the pilot flame and finish the roast with the infrared panels. The roast resulted with the end temperature of 395°F within 1 minute and 27 seconds. The entire roast lasted 7 minutes and 54 seconds. 

I cupped the coffee both right after roasting and then again the day after… and just now, I am enjoying a delightful cup brewed artfully by Taylor Brandon. The aroma reminds me of rose flowers, and the flavor of ripe berries, rounded with clean sweetness akin to hard candy. Overall, it is a remarkably complex cup full of fruity flavors with a hint of zestiness in the finish.   

IKAWA

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 first Ethiopia of the season has entered the chat, and it does not disappoint! Think sweet herbal, stone fruit and mango. 

On the high-density roast it expressed flavors like tea, mango, caramel, mint and delicious sweet basil. I kept going back to taste this roast, it was so complex and fascinating!  

On the low-density roast I got a soft rose, lemon and sweet melon note. Not quite as complex but very sweet and enjoyable.  

The low-density roast was a little bit muted in comparison to the first one, as expected with those high-density Ethiopians but, either way, this is a delicious coffee to add to your menu. I recommend trying out the high-density profile and exploring the light density profile if you feel so inclined, enjoy! 

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 Taylor Brandon 

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of new Ethiopia crown jewels. The Ethiopia Gedeb Banko Gotiti is juicy, herbal, dessert sweet and worth the wait. We found that the best brews were achieved via the V60 conical dripper and a mid-size grind of 9 or 10. The settings brought greater fruitiness with an added herbal depth.  

The first brew followed this recipe with a dose of 18 grams of coffee and a grind of 10 on the V60. This brew yielded a TDS of 1.47 and an extraction rate of 21.34%. Blueberry, peach tea, lychee, caramel and brown butter were prominent tasting notes for the team. For the second brew I opted for the Kalita Wave and kept all other factors the same. This brew yielded a TDS of 1.35 and an extraction rate of 19.13%. I will say this brew was a bit more intense with notes of dark chocolate, lime, almond, and orange bitters. For the last brew I stuck with the Kalita Wave and changed the grind from 10 to 9. This brew yielded a TDS of 1.41 and an extraction rate of 19.99%. Various stone fruits, blueberry, mango and caramel were top of mind when sampling this brew. I went back to the V60 for the last brew and this yielded a TDS of 1.33 and an extraction rate of 19.06%. Chamomile, apricot and biscotti were the most present in the cup. This brew took on a more floral tone that was pleasant.  

This coffee possesses a vanilla, caramel warmth that will be perfect for the fast-approaching cooler months. There are also vibrant fruit flavors that hit the tip of your tongue and a deep herbaceous undertone that carries it all. Very happy with this coffee and excited to see how you all best enjoy it.