Real Kona Coffee

Real Kona coffee is highly sought-after because it grows in only one place, in one small region of the Island of Hawaii. There the climate, altitude and volcanic soil produce a bean that features a distinctive and high-quality flavor, body and texture that simply cannot be replicated in any other coffee. Indeed, 100% Kona coffee is one of only two coffees in the world to achieve “gran cru” status.

The Kona region is one of the rainiest in Hawaii, with the rain falling from clouds that tend to settle over the mountainside in the afternoon, protecting the coffee cherries from the heat of the Hawaiian summer.

It also has been, historically, difficult for large, high-volume operations to farm the narrow stretches of rocky, volcanic land that make up the Kona growing region. Kona coffee, therefore, has been almost exclusively the product of small, family-owned farms. These smaller producers characteristically prioritize high quality, not high yield, like their agribusiness counterparts in other regions.
And still, the coffee produced in the region must meet the strictest standards and regulations to be labeled one of the six types of real Kona coffee. Coffee beans must be of the right size and contain the right amount of moisture, and possess an extremely low percentage of defective beans.

Pure Kona Coffee

Discerning coffee drinkers who are looking for that perfect cup of Kona coffee should look for the “100% Kona” label from the Kona Coffee Farmers Association to assure they are getting pure Kona coffee. Against the objections of the KCFA, many coffee roasters sell coffee blends containing as little as 10 percent Kona coffee as “Kona coffee blends.” The KCFA respects that tastes differ and blending is a part of producing the right variety of coffee for all coffee drinkers.

Those who want real Kona coffee, however, can only get it by buying coffee that bears the 100% hawaiian coffee label, such as from the Kona Cloud Coffee Estates.