LION Coffee, learn more about Kona Coffee

“The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.” – Albert Einstein
To help start your journey into the wonders of Kona Coffee, we’ve explained what exactly Kona Coffee is, where
Kona Coffee comes from and what grades Kona Coffee comes in. Just when you think you’ve learned everything
about Kona Coffee, some new and interesting fact appears to make you say “WOW, I didn’t know that!”

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Kona Coffee groves with snow-capped Mauna Kea in the background. (Photo from Hawaii Coffee Company archives).

KONA, HAWAII:

Here high above the Pacific, cradled between the world's largest mountain, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai, are our Kona coffee groves.

If ever a place existed to produce the perfect coffee bean, then Kona is surely it. Drive through this region, along the winding country roads, and you will barely notice the coffee farms amidst the spectacular scenery.

Come tour our Visitor Center and Kona coffee processing mill the next time you're in Kona Coffee country. We are located at 83-5427 Mamalahoa Highway, look for the six large colorful banners fronting the visitor center.

Kona Coffee

THE KONA NAME
can only be applied to coffee beans grown in North and South Kona, on the western side of the Big Island of Hawaii. This relatively small area, only two miles wide and about 25 miles long, is what makes Kona coffee so rare and unique. Coffee grown elsewhere in Hawaii cannot be called Kona coffee.

THE KONA COFFEE GROWING REGION
is situated on the slopes of the Hualalai and Mauna Loa volcanoes at elevations ranging from 500 to 2,500 feet, and offers ideal growing conditions. With its balance of acidity, mineral content and water retention, the nutrient-rich volcanic soil is particularly suited for coffee production.

Adding to this ideal soil is Kona' s climate. Hawaii’s famous bright morning sunlight helps the coffee thrive, while the cloudy, humid afternoons protect the coffee trees from overproduction, which can kill them.

This dependable afternoon cloud cover makes the Kona growing conditions comparable to those of shade-grown coffee.

THE KONA COFFEE PROCESS
begins in the months of January and lasts through June. Late winter and early summer rains bring the water that produces the blossoms or "flowers" 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 peak maturity will be harvested. Since 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 Kona coffee cherries yield just one bag of roasted 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

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.

There are five primary grades of Kona Coffee:

Extra Fancy, Fancy, Number 1, Peaberry and Prime. The Extra Fancy bean is the largest and has the fewest defects, followed by Fancy, Number 1 and Prime.

Peaberry is an extremely rare and unique coffee bean: Whereas most coffee cherries produce two coffee beans which are flat on one side and curved on the other, the Peaberry bean is rounded and oblong and only one is found in each coffee cherry.