Kona Coffee - Gourmet Guide

Kona Coffee is one of the world's finest gourmet Arabica coffees. Certified Kona Coffee grown on the volcanic soils of the Hualalai, Muanu Loa and South Kona regions of the Big Island of Hawaii. Kona coffee is a world renowned coffee that has a smooth full-bodied flavor, with a mild acidity and pleasant aroma.

The Kona Coffee growing region offers a moderate climate, rich volcanic soil, tranquil winds, and daily precipitation that create ideal growing conditions for this prized, extra fancy coffee. Only coffee that is cultivated in this region can legally be called "Kona Coffee". Coffee was introduced to the Kona region in the early 1800s from Brazil. Initially, Kona Coffee was grown on large plantations, but by 1900, the world coffee market crash had caused owners to lease their land to families who began growing coffee on their farms. Today, there are approximately 800 farms in the Kona Coffee growing region that cultivate over two million pounds of the bluish-green Kona Coffee bean annually.

Cultivating Kona Coffee is very labor intensive, as each tree is hand-picked several times between August and January. The red fruits of the tree are called "cherries" since they resemble actual cherries. Kona Coffee is classified as either Type 1 or Type 2. Type 1 contains two beans per cherry, and is graded as Kona Extra Fancy, Kona Fancy, Kona Number One, Kona Select and Kona Prime. Type 2 contains one bean per cherry, also known as a peaberry, and is graded as Peaberry Number 1 and Peaberry Prime. The peaberry is recognized for its intense flavor, yet only contributes to five to ten percent of the total Kona coffee production. Bear in mind that these grades have little or nothing to do with the quality or taste of the Kona Coffee, as they are solely a measurement of the size of the bean.

Due to cost and scarcity of Kona Coffee, Kona Coffee blends are often created which mixes 10% Kona Coffee with other, less expensive coffee varieties. Be sure to check the label of Kona Coffee to ensure that it is 100% pure Kona Coffee.

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