Crown Jewel Ethiopia Organic Banko Gotiti Double Washed Raised Bed

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Intro by Chris Kornman

One of the things I miss the most about the current work scenario is that I don’t get regular facetime with Evan Gilman, a core member of The Crown whose abilities have been put to work for our outbound logistics team as he works from home. Fortunately, he’s been especially communicative about this coffee in particular, calling it “100% good for slamming” in one exchange.

It is an expressive coffee where apricot and basil lemonade meet classic jasmine, white peach, honey and pear. With a coffee this clean and lush, it’s almost too easy to forget how much work goes into the process of growing, harvesting, and processing great coffee.

Banko Gotiti is the name of both the village and the washing station where this coffee was produced. Located close to the border of the Oromia Region, the closest main town is Gedeb, south of Yirgacheffe, in the Gedeo Zone of the Southern Nations Region.

The washing station is owned and operated by METAD Agricultural Development PLC. The family-run company was gifted property by Emperor Selassie in honor of the matriarch, Muluemebet Emiru, the first African female pilot. METAD is now managed by her grandson Aman Adinew, and its export partner Rift Valley Trading LLC is operated by his brother Michael Adinew. Among the many important pieces of work undertaken by METAD are their commitment to equal employment opportunities for women and education opportunities for the youth of the coffeelands, their early partnerships with Grounds for Health, and their development of Africa’s first SCAA certified lab.

Green Analysis by Chris Kornman

Classic and unsurprising specs on the physical analysis of this coffee further bely the rigorous processing efforts it takes to make such a solid coffee. High density, somewhat dry and stable moisture figures, plus smaller than average (on par for such offerings from Ethiopia, however) screen sizes makes for a by-the-books Grade 1 Ethiopia.

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, hearty and well adapted for cultivation in this, one of the world’s most coveted terroirs.

Ikawa Analysis by Chris Kornman

We’ve updated our V2 Ikawa Pro machines with the latest Firmware version (24) and run on “closed loop” setting. Our roasters underwent full service in October of 2018 which included replacement heating elements and an updated PT 1000 temperature sensor, and were recalibrated in September 2019.

A longtime favorite of mine, the farmers occupying this region in the heart of Southern Ethiopia’s coffee zone produce some of the most lush, delicious, fully washed coffees in the world. This coffee is no exception, and delighted at every roast profile I tried on the Ikawa.

Surprisingly, the short and fast roast profile (blue) resulted in a very early first crack and a far-too-long development time after, fully 80 seconds and over 22% of the total roast. Given a second chance, I’d probably stop this profile shorter to try and highlight some of the more delicate floral notes. All things considered, the coffee was aromatic and sweet, but the fruits were muted and where I expected flowers, they largely came across as herbs.

The Maillard +30 profile (yellow) hit first crack on target and offered a full, lush cup with mango, rose, and white peach notes. A solid showing and delicious cup, easy to appreciate and enjoy.

The long, low airflow profile (red) was a delight, right from the fragrance. Sweet basil and gardenia notes on the nose met by Meyer lemon, Pear, and Apricot in the cup, this was also a very delicious roast and one I wouldn’t hesitate to chug.

Keep your development time short for best results and you’ll be rewarded with complex floral flavors and lush soft fruits.

You can download the profile to your Ikawa Pro app here:
Roast 1: Crown Standard SR 1.0
Roast 2: Crown 7m SR Low AF
Roast 3: Crown Maillard +30 SR 1.0

Roast Analysis by Alex Taylor

Washed coffees from Ethiopia, specifically Gedeb, are my happy place. At The Crown, we recently added one to our espresso lineup in the Tasting Room, and my quality of life has significantly improved since!

As far as green specs go, this coffee is pretty classic and pretty great: clean prep, med-high density, and slightly low moisture content. I was hopeful that would make for a nice, easy roast, and it sure did! As per usual, I started with low heat application at the beginning of the roast, turned it up shortly after turning point, and then began stepping down the heat starting at around 350F. As I mentioned we have a new washed Ethiopia on the menu in the Tasting Room, which I’ve been roasting the past few weeks. My experience lately with that coffee had me on edge as this roast approached first crack, as I was expecting a pretty severe crash. Instead of dropping off a cliff after first crack, though, this coffee gently but significantly slowed down. Despite being ready for a crash, I think I let it slow down a little bit too much, though. The roast finished in 6:24 at 401.9F, with 1:09 or 18% development.

Despite having a little more development than was probably ideal (bearing in mind the flavor profile I, personally, was hoping for), this coffee definitely delivered. Classic aromas of lemon and black tea; when still hot the cup had slightly sweeter, smoother lemon notes. Closer to a meyer lemon than a regular lemon. And as the cup cooled, the black tea notes mixed with a gentle florality and vanilla sweetness that evoked memories of a London Fog. And, of course, just oodles of creamy milk chocolate on the finish. Everything one would look for in a washed Ethiopia. If you want this coffee to pop with more distinct florals and a sharper juicier lemon, a little less development and more energy in the beginning of the roast is probably the ticket! This coffee was super cooperative in the roaster, so you should be able to fine tune your roast profile to hit exactly the balance you want!

Behmor Analysis by Evan Gilman

Unless otherwise noted, I follow a set standard of operations for all my Behmor roasts. Generally, I’ll use the 1lb setting, manual mode (P5), full power, and high drum speed until crack. Read my original post and stats here. 

Picking up a sample of a washed Ethiopian coffee always has me thinking to myself “well, this will be easy!” Perhaps easy for the roaster and the drinker, but a lot of work went into the coffee beforehand to make it that way.

In a typical fashion, I started this coffee off on full power and high drum speed, and waited until the puffs just before first crack started to happen to engage P4 (75% power). The trick with this coffee is that crack seemed to come on rather slowly, and while I wasn’t certain it was truly starting, I used the old rule of thumb: if you aren’t hearing multiple cracks in a five second span, first crack hasn’t truly started. At 10:50 is when I marked first crack in earnest, and I allowed for 1:05 development, a little on the shorter side owing to the bright and juicy notes I expected to get from this coffee.

This coffee certainly held up to the roast! Bright lemon and cranberry tartness, with overarching jasmine and pear notes came through in the cup. The immediate flavor I got from this coffee when brewing was a very clean and mellow cherry juice, with an aftertaste of vanilla.

This coffee is just so clean… I almost wanted to put on a pair of gloves while drinking it. But it’s too hot outside for all that right now, so I comforted myself by making a cold brew. And let’s not kid ourselves, I made plenty of filter drip, too. Check out some brew notes by Alex and myself below!

Brew Analysis by Alex Taylor

A washed Ethiopia feels like the perfect coffee to wrap up this batch of brew analyses, but that might be because I think washed Ethiopias are the perfect coffee for everything…

Anyway, one more time, I’ve got two brews for analysis here: one with my new Espro Bloom dripper, and one with a v60 so that I have something for reference. I did the same thing for CJ1369 and CJO1370 and had nice results, so I’m sticking with it!

These brews were all on the stronger side compared to others in this series; TDS readings around 1.45 and extraction yields around 22% or 23%, which I found promising, as I often find that washed Ethiopias benefit from higher extractions. The v60 brew was super smooth and velvety and creamy. Definitely some lemon notes up front, but they were fairly gentle. The bergamot florality and black tea finish had me thinking of a London fog while drinking this! The brew on the Bloom dripper was intensely sweet. The lemon zest from the first brew rounded out into more of a meyer lemon note, and I tasted lots of honey, vanilla, and milk chocolate in this cup as well. It also had a very distinct, cooling note of geranium on the finish that I particularly enjoyed. Usually when doing brew analysis, I pick my favorite and drink the whole brew; for this coffee, I drank both! This coffee’s body was definitely silkier and more velvety than I expected, but I believe that could be easily manipulated by varying the strength of your brew. Brew stronger to double down on that, or weaker to find a lighter, crisper cup!