Kona Coffee Explained
why Kona Coffee?
Kona Coffee is grown on the dark volcanic lava rock mountain slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Kona coffee applies to beans grown in North and South Kona and no where else. The Kona region provides the ideal climate for growing coffee. The combination of sunny mornings, humid rainy afternoons, and cooler nights make for the best conditions for this crop.
Kona Coffee is hand-picked by small, independent farmers and some say it is the most labor intensive compared to other regions. Since the cherries do not ripen at the same time, each tree is picked several times throughout the season, which lasts from late August to late January.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT GRADES OF KONA COFFEE AND HOW THE GRADES ARE DETERMINED?
Kona Coffee is graded by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture based on a grading system that factors in the shape, bean’s size, cleanliness, moisture content, color, number of defects the beans contain, as well as aroma and flavor when it is brewed. This grading process is done during the dry milling stage of processing right before it is roasted. The five grades are Extra Fancy, Fancy, Number 1, Select and Prime.