Hydrangea Coffee Roasters - El Velo Natural

Roast Date: 01/25/2026

Origin: Boquete, Chiriqui, Panamá

Elevation: 1650-1900 MASL

Farmer / Farm: The Peterson Family (Hacienda La Esmeralda)

Roaster: Hydrangea Coffee Roasters

Variety: Gesha

Fermentation Process: Natural

Roaster Flavor Notes: Rose, Passionfruit, Muscat Rouge

Other Notes (from Roaster): El Velo is one of the newest of Hacienda La Esmeralda’s farms, purchased in 2012. This 50 hectare farm is the only one where the flat landscape allows a more uniform pattern, in rows. The farm is planted with Geisha and Catuai varieties, as well as with smaller lots of exotic varieties like Laurina, Pacamara and SL-34.  In addition there are some 400+ other accessions, which are part of Esmeralda’s research initiatives, and were obtained from CATIE.

The farm is planted from 1,650-1,900 masl, although the nature reserve continues up the mountain all the way to 2,900 masl, and is home to the famous Quetzal and other endangered birds.

Recipe & Tasting Notes

Brewer: V60

Grinder: Fellow Ode V1

Grind Setting: 3

Recipe: Hoffman’s V60 @ 204°F, with the bloom slowed an additional 15 seconds.

Ratio: 20g : 300g water

Water: Filtered Water treated with Light Roast Water Profile (From Third Wave)

Notes: Gesha’s are both easy to brew and so hard to get right because their flavors are so delicate. Nothing is ever particularly offensive when I brew them so its always a nice baseline cup, but really bringing the flavors out is trickier. This has a floral aroma, with notes of black tea and a hint of nuttiness. It has a mild acidity and sweetness, almost no bitterness, finishing clean. I don’t detect the passionfruit of the flavor notes, and rose and grapes (muscat rouge) seem like quite a stretch but these flavor descriptors often are. Need to try this at a finer grind to see if I can bring out more sweetness.