Giomar – Robusta Espresso from Ecuador

The new harvest of this limited Fine Robusta of the Napo Payamino variety from the Amazon region in Ecuador leaves us amazed. Produced by a small cooperative in the Chakra agroforestry system. Dried as natural and imported by Giomar, which is now repositioning a long-underestimated coffee. The aroma of the coffee reminds us of a wild berry cake before caramel and walnut-like flavors take over. A combination that we have never tasted before.

Giomar - Coffee Information

Origin: Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, Loreto, Orellana, Ecuador

Producers: WITOCA Cooperative

Varieties: Napo Payamino, 100% Robusta

Post-harvest process: Fermentation for 120h in barrel, then dried in the cherry

Arrived at the roastery: February 2024

Espresso recipe from our David

Our David developed and optimized the recipe with the following equipment:

Water : total hardness 5 °dH, alkalinity 3 °dH

Mill: Niche Zero

Grinding degree: 18.5

espresso machine: Ascaso Steel Duo PID

Screen: IMS Competition 24.5

Age of roasting: 14 days

Here we show you in a short video how to set up such a recipe.

Espresso recipe from our Michel

Our Michel developed and optimized the recipe with the following equipment:

Water : total hardness 3 °dH, alkalinity 1 °dH

Mill: DF 64V

Grinding degree: 28

Espresso machine: San Remo You

Sieve: VST 17g

Age of roasting: 14 days

Tell me more about Giomar's work

Giomar Hidalgo, or simply Gio, roasted coffee, served it, and now imports it from her home country of Ecuador. The WITOCA cooperative in the Amazon is a small cooperative that Gio has been working with since the beginning. She likes the exchange and appreciates that the cooperative is run by women. WITOCA plants coffee in the agroforestry system, i.e. between the existing trees. In the native Chakra cultivation method, they do not have external entrances and protect the rainforest. This natural of the Canephora variety Napa Payamino convinced us. This variety is a local clone and produces very large beans. The coffee itself has a lot of acidity, and the intensive post-harvest process gives the coffee its berry and caramel notes.

Why does coffee taste the way it does?

The WITOCA cooperative has specialized in special processing methods. In addition to washed canephoras, they make many honeys and an increasing number of naturals - however, the high humidity in the Amazon region places high demands on the post-harvest processes. WITOCA can make the naturals, which are in the cherry-dried coffees like this one, in August and September, as it hardly rains then. The 120-hour fermentation in a sealed barrel creates the coffee's berry aroma. It retains a fine basic acidity and has clean, walnut-like notes on the finish.

Why did we buy this coffee?

Because it shows like no other how the often maligned Canephora (Robusta) can taste when the same precision and philosophy as top Arabicas is applied. It shows the diversity of coffee and teaches us all to take a fresh look at our learned tastes.

How do we roast these coffees?

We roast WITOCA's Napa Payamino as a 15kg batch, so with a little more coffee than we would roast a filter coffee, but with less coffee than we roast other complex espressos (20kg). Why? Because we prefer a quick roast for Canephoras. Canephoras have twice as much chlorogenic acid and split into caffeic and quinic acid during the roasting process, which can create more bitterness in longer and hotter roasts. By roasting for a short time at a lower final temperature, we retain the naturally occurring freshness in the coffee and focus on the velvety texture. We roast for 10:20 minutes with a development time of 1:10 minutes.