Banko Gotiti

A washed Ethiopian landrace from Ilse Coffee, picked up at Homage in Ballard. Tropical citrus and lemongrass cooling into peach rings and honey.

In the cup

I picked this bag up at Homage Coffee in Ballard, and it’s been a fun cup to come back to. Tropical citrus and lemongrass lead, then it settles into peach rings and a honeyed sweetness with the clean, sparkling finish I look for in a washed Ethiopia. It’s been hitting best for me between 12 and 18 days off roast: bright, but not sharp.

The coffee

Banko Gotiti is a town in Kochere, in the Gedeb area of Ethiopia’s Gedeo zone. Growers there farm at 2,000–2,100 meters on small forested plots, some as small as a tenth of a hectare, and deliver cherry to the nearby Eva Washing Station. Eva is new, set up in 2023, and works with 868 farmers, logging each delivery by name, location, and weight. This is Ilse’s first Ethiopian release from the December 2025 harvest.

How it’s processed

Washed. Cherries are floated on delivery to pull the underripes, depulped, then left to ferment underwater for 24 to 48 hours. The seeds are rinsed clean of mucilage and dried on raised beds for 10 to 15 days. That work is what gives the cup its clean edge.

How I brewed it

A five-pour V60: 18 g in, 290 g out, a 1:16.1 ratio at 96 °C. I ground at 6.75 on a Fellow Ode 2, bloomed with 36 g, then built up in four pours and finished the last one at 1:50. Total time came in around 2:30 with a 45-second drawdown.

My best cup landed right at peak, around 18 days off roast. Five stars in the log.