Kona's Dark Beauty - Kona Coffee
Vermont has maple syrup, and Germany has breweries. England has Cheddar, and France has Champagne. But only Hawaii's Big Island has Kona Coffee, and that as they say makes all the difference.
Kona Coffee is only grown in Hawaii, and only in a small area of Hawaii, the Big Island, where just 600 small farmers grow, hand-pick and sun-dry the entire coffee harvest.
Only in Kona
The unique blend of sun, rain, temperature and soil that creates Kona Coffee is only found along a narrow 20 mile stretch of the Kona coast, starting at Holualoa in the north to Honaunau in the south, on the slopes of the Hualalai and Mauna Loa Mountains, where the altitude ranges from 700 to 2,000 feet.
The mountains and volcanoes along Hawaii's northern and eastern shores shield the southwestern coast of the Big Islands from too much wind and rain, but those breezes still bring in cool air and a scattered misty cloud cover that helps keeps the sun from scorching the coffee plants.
The mornings are sunny and cool, but enough gentle rain comes along in the afternoons to produce the world's finest coffee.
The soils where Kona Coffee is grown are rich. Hawaii is the top of a volcano that rises more than 30,000 feet from the bottom of the ocean floor, and over time, wind and water have broken down the extruded lava into a dark mineral-rich soil that helps give the beans its flavor.
In 1997 Kona Coffee sales amounted to only $28.2 million according to the State of Hawaii, and in 2000/01 Hawaii estimates that The Big Island will produce just 2.8 million pounds.
Ready for roasting
The Kona Coffee plants bloom with fragrant white flowers during the dry winters, creating "Kona snow," and are harvested as the beans ripen in autumn. The Kona Coffee beans must be picked just when turn the color of ripe, red cherries. The coffee's flavor isn't the same if they're picked too early or too late.
An experienced Kona Coffee farmer can pick just over 100 pounds of Kona beans in a day, and 100 pounds of beans will make about 18 pounds of delicious Kona Coffee. But before the coffee beans are ground, the red shells are removed from the green beans inside by soaking the them in water. The process is called "pulping." The shells come free and then the beans soak, or ferment, in the water from 12 to 20 hours.
The beans are then sun dried where they will to be raked and carefully turned to ensure even drying. This process can take up to a week, depending on the sun, and is a critical step in preparing Kona Coffee. These dried beans have a thin parchment-colored hull on the outside which is then removed in a milling process.
After that the green Kona Coffee beans are ready for roasting.
Kona Grades
Only about 5% of all Kona Coffee beans are peaberries, which are formed when two flower blossoms merge and create only one bean where normally two are grown. Peaberries are round like peas and have a concentrated Kona Coffee flavor that is powerful and robust.
The official grades of Kona Coffee are extra fancy, fancy, No.1 and prime, and grading is based on the size of the Kona Coffee bean. The bigger the bean the more "Kona" the flavor.
Extra Fancy is made from extra-large beans, giving it a sweet and mild taste and a smooth consistancy. It's very aromatic.
Fancy is from a grade of large beans. It may be a little fruity and mild flavor, but it's smooth and has a very rich aroma.
No.1 is from "medium sized beans" and has a mild taste.
Prime is from small beans and has a light body.
The Department of Agriculture also has two other grades, "No.3" and "Off grade." These do not qualify the beans as Kona Coffee, and be aware that coffee plants grown on other Hawaiian islands are not Kona Coffee.
100% Kona
Coffee lovers should be aware that coffee marked "Kona Blend" contains only about 10% kona bean and is mainly Central American beans, such as you'd buy in your supermarkets.
Even in the Islands some coffees are sold with names like "Kona Style," "Kona Roast" and "Kona Sunrise," to give the appearance that they are all-Kona, but usually they are not. The rule of thumb is if it doesn't say "100% Kona Coffee" then it isn't.
As matters stand, anyone can put the word "Kona" on their coffee, so if you want to buy real Kona Coffee you need to know the seller and the farm from whence it came.
Kona Coffee marked with the word "Kona Estate" means that the coffee was made with the beans from just one particular coffee farm, and now of course, you can find many flavored Kona Coffees, such as Kona mixed with chocolate, macadamias, coconut and hazel nuts.
In comparison to the amount of coffee produced by Brazil and Central America, Kona Coffee production is small and most, if not all Kona Coffee, is grown by small family coffee farmers. I'd suggest that you find a couple of farms/estates online and do your shopping.
Go Online
Buying your Kona Coffee directly from a small family coffee farm helps ensure you're getting the best possible Kona Coffee, helps a small Kona farmer pay his bills and shows you support the efforts of small independent farmers to make a living growing a quality product. And frankly, in the end, I think you get the better deal because nothing compares to the dark Kona beauty.
• A Wild Mac Kona Coffee Company
• Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service Hawaii Coffee
• Holualoa Kona Coffee Company
• Ka Hua O'Kona Estate Kona Coffee
• Kona Joe
