Kona Coffee: The Great Hawaiian Gourmet Coffee

Many countries in the world are known for their unique kind of coffee. People all over the world are constantly looking for the best coffee available.

In the world of coffee, the United States are known for its Kona coffee. Kona coffee is a kind of coffee bean harvested on Mount Hualalai and Mount Loa in Big Island, Hawaii.

These places are called Kona districts and any coffee produced in these districts can be considered Kona coffee.

This Hawaiian gourmet coffee is one of the premium coffees in the world. That’s because the coffee beans require exacting circumstances to grow.

Kona coffee to grow as best quality must have an environment of mornings that are sunny, then afternoons that provide rain and the sought after humidity needs and cool nights.

It was Samel Reverend Ruggles who brought the Brazilian plant to Kona for this Hawaiian gourmet coffee 19th century. However, it wasn’t years after that it became a worthwhile crop and then grown in big plantations.

During the crash of the world coffee market in 1899, the owners leased out the land to Japanese workers who originally came to harvest sugarcanes.

Later with Filipinos, Europeans and Americans from mainland joining in, the workers started producing large quantities of good quality coffee.

Kona coffee plants bloom every February and March. By late August, the tiny white flowers of the coffee tree are transformed into berries called cherries that are ready for picking. A typical Kona coffee tree yields a substantial 20 pounds of cherries.

Within a day, the cherries are run into a pulper and the beans are segregated from the pulp. The beans are then placed in a fermentation tank and left there for the night. After 12 hours, the beans are placed on a rack to dry out in the sun for one to two weeks.

When the moisture level is around 10 to 13%, the beans are milled before subjecting to roasting to produce Kona coffee. Approximately seven pounds of cherry is used to make one pound of this Hawaiian gourmet coffee.

The scarcity and high price of Hawaiian gourmet coffee prompted many retailers to sell the so-called Kona Blends. These blends contain only 10% Kona coffee. The other 90% is composed of less expensive imported beans.

Because of this phenomenon, the Hawaiian government implemented a law that required mix to indicate on their labels the ratio of Kona coffee.

One must try the pure version of this Hawaiian gourmet coffee at least once. The taste is truly satisfying and the coffee lover will get his money’s worth.

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