Mark Twain stated it so eloquently, "Kona Coffee has a richer flavor than any other, be it grown where it may and call it by what name you please." ~ 1866, Letters from Hawaii.
And Twain's judgment still holds firm today. The Hawaiian Islands with their warm, moist south-seas climate and rich volcanic soils are the only place in the U.S. where coffee grows and thrives.
The site is stunning from the air as Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, two of the volcanic mountains that form the Big Island of Hawaii, thrust up from out of the crystalline ocean, god-like in their grandeur. Along the southwestern slopes of the Mauna Loa, hidden somewhere in all the volcanic mountain tops, lava beds and greenery, exists a coffee lovers paradise - The Kona Coffee Belt, a cluster of farms that for more than a century have hand cultivated small crops of rich gourmet beans that are among the most treasured in the world.
The Kona Coffee Belt is sparsely populated and home to many immigrants: Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Samoans and "Haoles", the term used to refer to Caucasians with roots deep in Hawaiian soil, many third and fourth generation coffee farmers with extraordinary stories. It seems among the residents, no matter their ethnic origins, they all know each other and work together in perfect harmony, sharing one common bond: their passion for Kona Coffee. For the farmers it’s more than coffee: it’s a way of life. The "Aloha Spirit" is captured in the passion for meticulous painstaking work, growing, cultivating and processing prized Kona Coffee. The Kona Coffee belt, marked 180 on the highway map, is home to more than 500 farms, most of which are only 3 to 5 acres having only modest facilities and equipment. These farms total, approximately, 2000 acres of planted coffee, which annually yields up to six million pounds of beans. Brazil, on the other hand, accounts for more than 1 billion pounds of beans per year.
Although coffee represents the second most widely traded commodity in the world, very few people realize the complexity actually involved in producing the perfect cup of coffee. There are six distinct stages that go into to making the perfect cup of coffee: Growing, Harvesting, Processing, Sorting and Grading, Roasting, and, of course, Brewing. As you read about what goes on beyond the great blue water, we invite you to sit down and enjoy a fresh cup of our Pure 100% Kona Coffee.
In the springtime, mature coffee trees burst into bloom, covering the landscape with fragrant white blossoms. Coffee trees can take up to 5 years to mature and the older plants yield a better and richer flavored bean. From the time of blossom on, teams of skilled workers tend meticulously to each plant. They prune, water and manage soil content, pest control and exposure to sunlight of each branch loaded with buds. During the growing period, each plant will receive ongoing personal attention and grooming, and that's just the beginning.
Kona's coffee berries are harvested one at a time at the peak of their ripeness. Beginning in the late summer, the picking teams inspect every plant and every cherry. When the cheery is ripe, with the proper color of deep rich red, only then is it deemed ready to pick. Even on the same branch, the cherries will ripen at a varying pace. The teams of pickers spend days evaluating and selecting each cherry until they are all in. When the cherries are ripe, each tree will only produce about one pound of coffee annually!
This individualized attention continues into the processing. After picking, a procedure called pulping removes the outer red skin and brings forth the precious seed inside, usually two seeds to each cherry. Pulping is the key step in processing of Kona Coffee.
After pulping, there is another round of inspection and selection. By putting the seeds in a shallow pan of water, the "floaters," seeds that are empty or not ripe enough are separated from the mature seeds. "Pea Berries," cherries with only one seed, are separated and sold as a delicacy. They are round in shape and have received more nutrients from the plant. Therefore they are more flavorful and command a higher price on the market.
The seeds are then laid out in the sunshine to dry. They are raked and turned until what emerges is a stiff white skin called parchment. The parchment is then removed through a process called milling. The result of this scrutiny is a small harvest of highly cultured pearls, green beans of exceptional quality and character.
Before the beans can be sold, they must undergo stringent grading standards. Following milling, beans are sorted by size in preparation for grading. Beans are graded into one of the following categories: Extra Fancy, Fancy, #1, Prime, and X. The Kona Coffee council and Hawaii's Department of Agriculture have developed strict certification standards that must be applied to every bean. These standards are designed to protect the consumer and to protect the integrity of the Kona product. The process demands workers with enormous skill, patience and experience. The workers in Kona all have these qualities and paying them costs.
In its'green state, coffee beans don’t really give a hint of what their true individual aromatic characteristics will be ….not until they're roasted, that is ! The ideal roasting time can vary depending on each individual variety of bean. During the roasting process, coffee beans expand in size while reducing in weight, as moisture is lost from the green bean. Complex chemical changes also occur as soluble oils are developed and released and sugars inside the bean begin to caramelize. The roasting of these sugars is what gives the coffee its distinct taste and rich brown color. Caffeine gases are also released from the bean during roasting. The longer the beans are roasted, the more caffeine gasses are actually released. Thus, dark roast coffees actually tend to have less caffeine than a light roast!
Kona Coffee in its pure variety, not blended with any other coffee, commands $40.00 to $50.00 a pound on the retail market. The profit margins in Kona Coffee are slim. As massive as the gourmet coffee industry has grown, with over 500,000 gourmet coffee shops currently in the USA, very few offer 100% Kona, by the bean or by the cup. Its low profit margin and availability account for the fact that Kona is difficult to find.
The Bad Ass Coffee Company™ proudly brews 100% Kona Coffee every day in every one of our stores. Why? Because we believe that you, our valued customers, are worth it. Take home a bag of beans today, brew up a pot yourself, or enjoy a cup in our store and you’ll taste, see and understand why Kona coffee is the best there is. |
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