LEARN WHY KONA COFFEE IS SPECIAL
THE KONA COFFEE NAME
Kona Coffee beans make up only 1% of all the coffee grown in the world. The name "Kona Coffee" can only be applied to coffee beans grown in North and South Kona region, on the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii. This relatively small area, only two miles wide and about 25 miles long makes Kona Coffee rare and unique. Coffee grown elsewhere in Hawaii cannot be called Kona Coffee.
You know the old saying “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” When you see a bag of 100% Kona Coffee selling for under $10.00, you can be sure there is a reason why, and most likely it’s not good. If indeed it really is 100% Kona Coffee, it may be old (from the previous season) or it possibly wasn’t graded after picking. Either way, you get what you pay for. The Hawaii Coffee Company, the largest buyer, roaster and seller of Kona Coffee, uses only top quality, fresh Kona Coffee that has been inspected and certified by the State of Hawaii. When you purchase a bag of our 100% Pure Kona Coffee, you can be sure you are getting a quality product.
WHAT MAKES KONA SO SPECIAL?
The Kona Coffee growing region, which has been growing coffee since 1828, is situated on the mountainous slopes of two volcanoes, Hualalai and Mauna Loa. The elevations, ranging from 500 to 2,500 feet, offer ideal growing conditions. With its balance of acidity, mineral content and water retention, the nutrient-rich volcanic soil of Kona is particularly suited for coffee production.
Adding to this ideal soil is Kona' s climate. Hawaii’s famous bright morning sunlight helps the coffee trees thrive, and the humid afternoon clouds roll over the mountains into Kona shading and protecting the coffee trees. This unique micro climate, with dependable afternoon cloud cover makes the Kona growing region comparable to the conditions of other quality shade grown coffees of the world.
The mountainous terrain in the Kona region requires hand picking of the mature coffee cherries, which contain the prized Kona Coffee beans. Hand harvesting allows precise selection of only the ripe coffee cherries that are ready to be picked. The unripened coffee cherries are left on the tree for harvesting on other days when they are ripe. The Kona Coffee trees are monitored daily and reharvested when ready. Harvesting Kona Coffee is strenuous, manual labor, and intensive work, to which the Kona Coffee farmers are dedicated. Kona Coffee farmers take great pride in the coffee beans they produce.
PROCESSING KONA COFFEE
The Kona Coffee harvesting season stretches from August to April. Late winter and early summer rains bring the water that produces the blossoms or "flowers" on the Kona Coffee tree which eventually turn into coffee cherries.
After six to seven months, the green coffee cherries turn red. When they become solid red, they are harvested by hand -- a meticulous process which ensures that only cherries at their peak of maturity will be harvested. Only using fully ripe, hand picked coffee cherries ensure a Kona Coffee’s signature qualities: superbly smooth, aromatic, delicate balance and lively finish. Since coffee cherries do not ripen at the same time, each tree may be picked as many as seven or eight times during the coffee season.
The coffee cherry is a sweet, pulpy fruit that surrounds two coffee seeds. Approximately seven bags of ripe coffee cherries yield just one bag of roasted Kona Coffee. A good coffee picker can fill a 100-pound bag with coffee cherries in a day. In rich harvest seasons, experienced pickers have been known to pick as many as three bags per day.
Wet-method Processed
Once the ripe coffee cherries have been picked, they are delivered to our processing mill. Once there, the coffee cherries are fed into a pulper machine which removes the outer layers of the coffee cherries and exposes the coffee beans inside (or single bean as in the Peaberry coffee). The pulper machine uses rotating discs to remove the pulp (outer skin) by squeezing the cherry until the skin splits. The machine skillfully separates the beans and the pulp while still preserving the parchment (a thin protective membrane protecting the bean).
Drying
The coffee beans, after being removed from the coffee cherry, are brought out onto a drying deck to be sun dried. They are spread out on a flat platform known by its Japanese name, hoshidana, and exposed to the sun. The beans are then shifted and raked often for uniform drying by the sun. When the beans are dried and attain the perfect moisture content (12%), the coffee is called "parchment coffee", due to their stiff, white parchment-like skin.
Dry Milling
The next step in the process is called dry milling. At this stage, the parchment is removed, leaving the Kona Coffee beans without any other protective coating. The beans are now called "green beans."
The Hawaii Coffee Company utilizes several machines during the dry milling process to go from parchment coffee to green bean. First, the “huller” is the machine that removes the parchment skin from the actual beans. Next, the green beans are placed in the sorter to be sized. This process separates the beans into different grades of Kona Coffee. The primary grades of Kona Coffee are Extra Fancy, Fancy, Number 1, Peaberry and Prime. Next, the beans of each specific grade/size are placed on the gravity table. Density is essential to the quality of the bean. The gravity machine separates the denser beans, allowing them to rise to the top of the table while the lower denser beans fall to the bottom. This allows us to offer only the best Kona Coffee to our customers. The green beans are then packed in one hundred pound bags to be certified by the state.
How 100% Pure Kona Coffee makes the graded
Hawaii is the only coffee growing area in the world that requires continual testing and certification for its coffee. Kona Coffee is graded by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, based on a strict system that takes into account the size, shape, and the number of defects each coffee bean contains.
Although time-consuming and an additional cost, the grading process ensures the integrity and quality of the Kona Coffee that reaches our customers.
The five primary grades of Kona Coffee are:
1. Extra Fancy
2. Fancy
3. Number 1
4. Peaberry
5. Prime.
The Extra Fancy bean is the largest and has the fewest defects, followed by Fancy, Number 1, and Prime.
The rare Peaberry bean represents only 3 to 5% of the total Kona Coffee crop. Shaped differently than other coffee beans, the Peaberry bean is rounded and oblong in nature, whereas a typical coffee bean is flat on one side and curved on the other. This rare Peaberry bean makes a more intense flavored cup of Kona Coffee-to understand and appreciate it, you will have to taste it.