I’ve been wanting to try some Velton’s Coffee for years, seeing it featured in so many of the Seattle Coffee Gear videos I’ve watched. I recently started receiving coffee to review from the My Coffee Pub subscription service (you subscribe, they send you the featured bag of coffee every month) and the latest coffee they sent is Velton’s Rwanda Kivu Kigeyo. Serendipity! Even if you’re not a member you can order this coffee for $20 plus shipping from My Coffee Pub, which is nice because Velton’s doesn’t have this coffee available directly right now!
A quick note and apology before I get on with my review is in order, too. I should’ve reviewed this coffee right after I received it so My Coffee Pub subscribers (and potential subscribers) would know what to expect, but I had a total brain fart. I will review June’s coffee a lot more promptly for you! Sorry!
So, on to the coffee! Velton Ross has been roasting coffee up in the Pacific Northwest since 2007 and his experience is apparent with this Rwandan coffee. I don’t know a ton about the origin of this coffee, but based on the name I can tell you it was likely grown in the mountains surrounding Lake Kivu in Rwanda and was washed at the respected Kigeyo washing station nearby. Most Rwandan coffee is Bourbon and the altitude around there is 1800-2000masl give or take.
Velton’s tasting notes for this coffee, which I found on his Tumblr page, describe this coffee as, “Creamy and floral with tropical fruit, lemon, fig, cola and brown sugar.” Sounds nice!
I prepared my samples with my 15:1 pourover method in a notNeutral Gino dripper (like a Kalita Wave). I get raisins and caramelized sugar aromas off the brew bed and in the cup, the warm aroma was full of lemon candy scents.
While the cup is still warm from brewing the cola and the lemon are very apparent. Think of a Coke® with a twist of lemon in it, minus the carbonation. The flavors are tied together by a brown sugar/caramel sweetness underlying everything. It’s really good… sweet and bright, but not edgy. Lots of layers to explore!
In the cooling cup as the coffee opens up the lemon acidity is a bit more apparent but yet still restrained. Velton did an awesome job on this, developing the roast to show plenty of sugars and sweetness but also retaining a nice, soft acidity to brighten the coffee. This is an awesome example of what an experienced roaster can do with coffee and I am thankful to My Coffee Pub for hooking me up with this great Velton’s sample!