Crown Jewel Bolivia Organic Washed Yulissa Chambi San Lorenzo Municipality

Taste

Taste Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Who are your favorite coffee prodigies? Oh? You don’t know have any? Well, Yulissa Chambi is on the top of our list (and should be on yours too). 

in 2022 she had her first harvest and by 2023, her name speaks volumes in the industry. She was only 21 at the time but has had plenty of experience in coffee beforehand. On her family farm she saw the vision of specialty coffee and put in the effort to learn more about the supply chain, coffee production and developing her palate. She began renovating her family farm at the start of 2019 and since then has made large strides to get where she is. With the help of her extended family, their small operation performs an impressive feat to execute some of our favorite coffees of the year.  

Sublime guava pastry with hints of butterscotch plum and kumquat creates an interplay of caramelized sweetness and fresh fruit. An idyllic combination, this is the perfect coffee to welcome your customers to the spring and summer seasons.  

What I particularly enjoy about this coffee is the clarity. When a coffee is really clean, sometimes the flavors can feel a little washed out or dull. This is not the case with this Bolivian coffee, it is sharp, concise and clear, sort of like when you clean off your glasses and you can peer into them perfectly. That is the feeling this coffee emulates.  

The body is full sort of like full fat yogurt, toasted coconut or a fruit smoothie. Hints of aromatics round out the profile with lavender, citrus oil to complete the experience.  

Personally, I prefer this coffee as a pour-over but it is also fantastic on espresso. It’s on bar at The Crown as espresso and we have already gotten great response from customers. I think the pointed flavor notes are even more distinct on espresso with sweetness in full force.  

Yulissa’s lots always go in the blink of an eye. Be sure to act fast or better luck next year. Cheers!  

Source

Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger 

Yulissa Chambi is a young and accomplished Bolivian coffee professional whose coffee we are proud to feature for the fourth consecutive year as a Crown Jewel. Doing so year after year has not been easy—her coffee is limited and highly sought after locally thanks to her rapid ascent in Bolivia’s national specialty scene.   

Yulissa’s personal story is a nice analog to the recent history of Bolivia’s specialty coffee as a whole. After decades of neglect, the family farm was recently reinvigorated and now produces some of the tastiest washed coffee anywhere in South America. Along the way, Yulissa became Bolivia’s National Aeropress Champion and very involved barista. As a producer, Yulissa’s particular ability to use anaerobic fermentation, not as a transformation effort but as a subtle enrichment of the already abundant botanical flavors of her fully washed coffee, is among the best applications of the method we taste each year from anywhere.  

This year’s lot from Yulissa’s farm is lightly creamy with a sweetness evocative of a tropical fruit smoothie. There’s a balanced florality that ranges from soft jasmine to invigorating juniper, and the kind of tart center of red fruits and complex brown sugars that come from perfectly ripe picked cherry.  

Caranavi and its Coffee  

Bolivia is South America’s only landlocked coffee producing country and is the smallest exporter of coffee on the continent. The quality of that coffee, however, is hardly lacking in diversity or beauty. Bolivia’s terrain and geography is gifted for arabica production, particularly throughout the Yungas region (Yungas is Aymara for “warm lands”), whose mountain ranges connect the low and humid Amazonian basin to the dry Andean altiplano above. The most productive municipality in the Yungas is by far Caranavi, which still produces an estimated 85-90% of Bolivia’s specialty coffee.   

Caranavi’s landscape is steep, humid, rugged, and remote, with natural forest making up more than 90% of the territory. Historically coffee in this area was challenged by a devastating combination of isolation and national disinvestment. These days, after decades of struggle, coffee farms in Caranavi’s high and tropical climate tend to be well-managed and diversified, but small. Coffee growers here still often don’t have processing equipment or transportation of their own, a massive hurdle in such territory.  

Yulissa’s Farm  

In the 1980s, Yulissa’s family purchased a 20-hectare piece of property in the Yungas region, in the mountains surrounding the small valley city of Caranavi. At the time, the farm was pure jungle; no roads or services of any kind could access it.   

5 years after the purchase, her family planted 4 hectares of coffee. For the next 40 years the family land was cherished for its location and refuge from city life in La Paz, but due to declining coffee prices and disinvestment from Bolivia’s government, coffee production was not a viable trade for the family, and was therefore not an investment worth making. Over the years the coffee trees aged and lost their production, and the family remained in the city where occupational prospects were far better.  

In 2019, Yulissa’s generation decided it was time to renovate the farm. Bolivia’s specialty coffee had developed to the point where Caranavi was seen as an area of high terroir potential, and Yulissa herself, barely out of secondary school, was interested in the bubbling specialty roaster and barista culture in the city.   

Between 2019 and 2021, the original 4 hectares were re-planted, along with 3 new ones. With this newly invigorated coffee under her control, Yulissa dedicated herself to producing coffee the best way possible. In the process she also set to learning the rest of the value chain, from milling to roasting and barismo—the art and practice of being a barista, which strangely has no English equivalent.  

The 7 hectares of coffee is managed by extended family and neighbors throughout the year. During harvest the family employs 8 pickers, and otherwise covers all necessary harvesting and processing themselves.  

Washed Processing  

Yulissa’s washed process mirrors that of the general region. Fresh hand-harvested cherry is sorted for ripeness and floated in water to eliminate the less dense fruit. After selection is complete, the cherry is mechanically depulped and fermented in a traditional open top tank for 20 hours, until the residual mucilage is mostly dissolved. After this short fermentation in parchment, the mucilage is carefully washed away and the parchment is transferred to raised screen beds to dry in the sun until the parchment reaches a final moisture content of 10-12%.  

Since Bolivia is a landlocked coffee producing country, all farmers, and microlot farmers more than most, need help getting their coffee to the international market. Felix Chambi Garcia, a contact of Royal’s who works with various producer groups in the country, has become an important figure, helping producers with the logistics of moving coffee to the dry mill where quality and traceability are protected during the preparation for export. Yulissa’s coffee was consolidated with a larger Fair Trade Organic shipment from the Cooperativa San Juan, with whom both Yulissa and Felix closely work. 

Green

Green Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano   

Screen size is a bit widely spread on this coffee with a range in mostly the 16-19. Density is a little bit below average and a below average moisture content at 10.4%. Water activity is also a little bit below average, these are ideal specs and as expected from Yulissa and the team she works with.  

Red Catuai is relatively common for the region and in the 1940’s a Brazilian research institution developed this cultivar, a cross between Caturra and Mundo Nuvo. Red represents the color of the cherry and you can often find a yellow Catuai, the color is to help distinguish between plants. Catuai is susceptible to pests and diseases but yields great cup quality. 

Caranavi is a province, but also a city in Bolivia, that produces the largest amount of coffee in the region. San Lorenzo, where this coffee is grown, is a city in Bolivia on the southern region that has relatively good access to roads and it gets moved 5,000 meters up to La Paz, the capitol, to finish dry milling and then containerized at the port of Arica in Chile. Because Bolivia is landlocked, automatically prices hike up a little bit because transportation is not as easeful.  

In the early 2000’s the U.S funded anti-drug programs that included building washing stations, providing access to training and financial assistance. Cup of Excellence arrived in the country in 2004 and by 2010 the Presidents Cup replaced COE. All of these factors were a driving force to bring more focus to quality in Bolivian coffee production.  

Loring

Loring S15 Falcon Analysis by Doris Garrido

I haven’t met her in person, but I feel a real connection with Yulissa Chambi and her family – they have a true coffee heritage, handling everything from the seed all the way to the cup. You can tell their passion lies in making delicious coffee by focusing on the details. The whole Chambi family supports each other. Last year, her brother Felix promised me Yulissa would come to the coffee expo and visit the Bay Area. It wasn’t possible, but he said it would happen in a few months. The family is quite busy right now; Another sister, Helen Chambi just became the Bolivian national taster champion and is training for the world championship in Switzerland. Plus, the harvest is coming early this year, on top of everything else going on in the world. But for now, I just hope coffee will make us reunite anytime soon. 

But let’s talk about roasting! 

Yulissa’s washed process isn’t just a simple wash; there’s always great discoveries after roasting, you just need to know where to look. I’ve done a couple of roasts on the Loring so far, and for this analysis, I wanted to focus on my second roast. I used the roaster at 54% capacity, and my overall approach was to extend the drying by holding off on the power and then pushing a little at the beginning of Maillard, to slow things down as it approached caramelization.  

Here’s what I did: 

I started the roast at 460F and waited a minute before adding power. Then I ran it at 100% power, gradually lowering it as I got close to 360F, first to 80% (though I have to say 80% felt like too much, so I bumped it back up to 90% for a few seconds and then back to 80% again). After I waited to keep dropping the power as I neared the cracking point. For development I let it go for 1 minute and 30 seconds with a final temperature of 410F. 

Yulissa coffee is remarkably clean and crisp, really vibrant. I tasted hibiscus, green grapes and lemon with a very soft texture and botanical aftertaste. Is a vibrant coffee that translates beautifully as an espresso. Its buttery smooth texture is exquisite in an espresso drink. If you’re in the Bay Area, definitely stop by and give it a try! 

Aillio

Aillio Bullet R1 IBTS Analysis by Evan Gilman 

We use the RoasTime app and roast.world site to document our roasts on the Bullet. You can find our roast documentation below by searching on roast.world, or by clicking on the link below.  

Take a look at our roast profiles below, as they are constantly changing! 

In my experience, Bolivian coffees are few and far in between. We have been lucky, however, to have Yulissa Chambi’s coffees on the menu for a few years now, and they’re nothing less than exemplary of the region, and of top-notch coffee processing in general. Just looking at and smelling the green, I was enamored of this coffee after having had the privilege of opening up the jute bag. Ever brought a bag of chips down a mountain pass? You’ll know what it was like hearing the hiss of air as I broke open the jute liner. Perfect seal.  

With the wider spread in screen sizes and lower than average moisture content, I knew I’d need a balanced approach. On the other hand, I also knew i wanted to roast this coffee quickly in order to bring out the floral notes and bright acidity I expected this coffee to harbor. I started this coffee off at 464F, P9 power, and F2 fan to really amp up the heat. At turning point, I lowered the power to P8, and adjusted airflow to F3 shortly afterward. Then I lowered further to P7 at my peak rate of change of about 38F/min to begin the slow climb to first crack.  I kept these specs until about 355F / 5:25, where I increased airflow further to F4, then ramped heat down to P6. This coffee had no trouble continuing on its trajectory once the resistance to heat put forth by the variation in screen sizes was overcome. I toggled a bit between F4 and F5 to abate smoke and keep this coffee in post-crack development for just a touch longer, then dropped the batch at 395F / 8:33.  

This roast was beginning to take off at the end, but I think I caught it in time – no toasty or ashy notes in the cup at all. What I did get was juicy melon, yellow cake mix, and custardy texture with peach overtones. This was definitely not the profile I was expecting from this coffee, but I was pleasantly surprised, to put it mildly. This coffee is an absolute chugger. I kept myself from having a fourth cup this morning, but just barely.  

I think I’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t like this coffee. It’s an all-around well balanced cup with a little something for everyone: the zippy acid lovers, the juicy fruit lovers, and the syrupy texture lovers. Enjoy this coffee any way you please, it’s going to satisfy. I’ll be remembering this coffee for a while to come!  

You can follow along with my roast here at roast.world: https://roast.world/egilman/roasts/goVQ98Dj4gQbMlNnXeAJ- 

IKAWa

Ikawa Pro V3 Analysis by Author’s Name 

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. 

On the high density roast the coffee was clean, lemony, fruity, and syrupy. The light density roast had lots of black pepper, baking spices, and hibiscus notes. While I enjoyed the notes of the light density, the high-density roast was overall cleaner, fruity, and more full. Although this coffee is a bit on the lighter side in terms of density, I recommend trying out the high density roast.

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 Tim Tran 

Bolivia is not a region I have too much familiarity with, as it relates to coffee. So by and large, Yulissa Chambi’s coffee has set the bar, as a coffee that we have featured for a couple years. And let me tell you, Yulissa’s coffee sets quite the high bar. This washed coffee proved to be a treat to dive in to and was nothing short of the exemplary quality of coffee that I’ve come to hope for out of Yulissa’s coffees. 

My brew analysis started with a moderate dose at a moderate grind setting at a 1:16.67 ratio on a conical dripper. This first brew struck a pleasantly balanced chord of harmonizing herbals, apricot and silky milk chocolate. The coffee carried a medium weight that lent itself well to the flavor complexity, providing for high clarity and plenty to taste. As a first pass brew, this coffee had me excited to keep brewing and exploring. 

I took these same coffee specs and moved to a flat-bottomed brewer and was even more increasingly happy with how the final cup presented itself. At a moderate dose and moderate grind setting on the Kalita Wave, I found a brightness and juiciness to the cup, where apricot and orange zest were able to create a pleasant arrangement of notes, while still preserving some of the high clarity that I found on the conical dripper. This recipe was by far my favorite of the different recipes I tried. 

Overall, across the different brews, I found the tastiest brews to sit at the higher extraction percentages. While lower extraction percentage brews still gave some pleasant brown sugar and stonefruit notes, the depth and complexity really shined the most when hitting higher extraction percentage brews. 

My recommendation for this coffee is for a moderate dose with a moderate to moderately fine grind on a flat-bottomed brewer, looking to really get the most and aim for high extraction.