Crown Jewel Bolivia Organic Anaerobic Washed Yulissa Chambi

Taste

Taste Analysis by Isabella Vitaliano 

Year after year, Yulissa Chambi’s coffees continue to be a standout and for only being in her early 20s we have only just seen what she is capable of. Purple grape, gingerbread, baking spices and crisp plum make up the bulk of the coffee’s flavors. On the other end, we have notes like hazelnut, raspberry and even goat cheese. It’s tangy but subtle and really the perfect entry point for someone to explore specialty coffee but especially Bolivian coffee.  

This is our fifth season sourcing coffee from Yulissa, a young but experienced grower in Bolivia. With the help of her brother Felix, who supports with logistics, we are able to get this coffee from her. A bit of a shapeshifter, this coffee certainly has range. Base notes that seem the most consistent are black mission fig, persimmon, apple cider and bing cherry. On other brews we see variations like watermelon, lilac, caramel, lemongrass, praline and lime.   

The most ideal variation of this has been on the humble batch brew. At home I’m all in favor of a pour over but when getting coffee out and at work, a batch brew is what keeps me going. Truly excellent as a batch brew, it’s delicate, subtle but with prominent fruit notes. Instead of allowing the anaerobic process to dominate the profile Yulissa uses it with particular control in order to support the existing flavors.  

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 fifth 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.  

Anaerobic Processing  

For this anaerobic washed lot, hand-harvested cherry was carefully sorted for consistency and floated for density, after which it was then washed clean and placed into closed containers to ferment anaerobically for 72 hours. After this brief whole cherry fermentation stage, the coffee was then mechanically depulped and fermented in a traditional open top tank for 20 hours, until the residual mucilage was mostly dissolved. After this second fermentation in parchment, the mucilage was carefully washed away and the parchment was transferred to raised screen beds to dry in the sun.   

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. 

Green

Green Analysis by Isabella Vitalano 

Red Catuai is a common cultivar from the region and one we often see from Yulissa’s farm. Moisture content and water activity are both slightly below average and the density is a little bit above average here. A condensed screen size means even roasting but be sure to check out the roasters noted for any more details. Physically, the green has the normal variation in color you expect from natural and anaerobic coffees with a slight floral and grassy smell. Pristine condition with no physical defects on the coffee. 

Offerings from Bolivia can be few and far between due to the lack of government support, it being landlocked, competing cocoa production, labor shortage, and extremely low production volume (85,000 kg bags for 2024). Most often used as a single origin offering for coffee roasters, we rarely see them sold to consumers in blends because roasters and importers must be intentional about sourcing these coffees. Coffee profiles from this coffee are often very sweet and clean but do not have very strong fruity flavors 

Loring

Loring Falcon S15 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

Two of our favorite coffees are back this year: the latest harvest from Bolivian producer Yulissa Chambi. We are thrilled to work with her coffees once again, and they’re tasting just incredible. For this release, I am first roasting the anaerobic wash, which is already being served as our light roast option here at The Crown. 

This Red Catuai is grown in the Yungas region near Caranavi on the high slopes of the Andes. The environment has produced coffee with a creamy body, malic acidity and high sweetness, all of which stood out on the arrival cupping for their remarkable cleanliness and complexity.  

Because of the extended fermentation process this coffee underwent, I chose a low charge temperature and soft finish. I used the Loring Falcon S15 at 55% capacity, charging the coffee at 450°F and waiting a few seconds before applying 100% of power. I let it run for about three minutes before I began stepping down the gas to 80% at 320°F, 70% at 340°F, 50% at 360°F, 40% at 380°F, and finally down to 20% at 390°F. 

In general, as soon as the coffee hit the color change, I started dropping the gas. I wanted to slow the momentum as it entered caramelization; knowing the anaerobic process, I expected the coffee to generate more energy as it approached the first crack. Since it is a Red Catuai cultivar, I prefer a soft finish to preserve the delicate flavors. 

With the power at 20% I achieve 1:20 of development time and dropped the roast at 408°F 

The results are fantastic: this Red Catuai turned out incredibly clean, featuring notes of orange wine, sweet fruity balsamic, peach sweetness, ginger, and a unique cherry goat cheese acidity.  

I was brewing this coffee during this past WOC in San Diego, and I have to say that the Baristas here at the crown have made much better justice to this coffee, their dial-in is just perfectly on point, creamy, sweet and tangy.

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. 

On the low density version of this coffee we found the profile to heave really nice sweetness and gentle texture. The high density coffee has a lot more flavor going on, a bit like gin, very juniper and botanical forward. Fruit tones were obvious in both coffees but there were even more nuance and intricacies to the high density roast. I highly recommend trying that roast out first on the ikawa when sampling this coffee from Yulissa.  

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 

Anaerobic process coffees were my first eye-opener as far as wildly different flavors in association with coffee. Over trying many many anaerobic coffees, the subset of flavors that were associated with the process in my mind continued to expand, and this Bolivian coffee continues to do exactly that as far as pushing the boundaries of flavor. Sweet, rich, classically fruity and notably herbal, this coffee had a lovely depth of flavor that made for a fun brew analysis. 

My favorite brew I landed on was made on a conical dripper with a moderate dose and a fine grind setting, with a 16.67 ratio. This brew had a 1.22 TDS and a 17.69% extraction. Driving the grind finer brought out an incredibly sweet brew with some notable cacao, sage, and cherry cordial. The texture that this coffee carried was a standout quality and accented some of the dessert-like characteristics of this brew. 

I also particularly enjoyed a brew made with a higher dose with a moderately coarse grind setting, at a 1:15 ratio. This brew gave me a 1.29 TDS with a 17.03% extraction. The higher dose brought out some very pleasant herbal notes, and the fruit note developed more into a raspberry-like tartness. While the brew notably carried a lighter body, the texture was still notably silky despite the lighter mouthfeel. 

Overall this was a fun brew to delve into as to how texture intersected with the broad spectrum of flavors this anaerobic coffee brings out. Ultimately I would recommend a conical brewer with a moderate dose and a fine grind setting, with the goal of targeting a slightly lower extraction percentage. Cheers!