How to Drink Hawaiian Coffee? What Flavors Does Hawaiian Coffee Have Hawaiian KONA Coffee Price

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Understanding Hawaiian Coffee

"Hawaiian Coffee" has been shaped by early demand from Japanese buyers and by the successful marketing of the Kona region on the Big Island, which led most consumers to assume that Kona is Hawaiian coffee. In fact, Kona coffee refers only to coffee that is 100% produced in the Kona region. (There is also 10% Kona coffee, which is blended with 90% beans from other regions.)

Under the third wave of the specialty coffee movement, coffee estates on Hawaii's various islands have gradually stepped out of the shadow of "Kona only," and each has made a name for itself in the global market.

Hawaii began planting coffee in the 18th century. Most coffee is grown on Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii, both of which have ideal climate and soil. Processing is extremely meticulous, and the beans look very nearly perfect. Yet a limited planting area plus expensive American wages are the reasons Kona beans are so costly. Even so, the perfectly clean Kona cup, full of a unique tropical fruit aroma, cannot be replaced by any other coffee.

Coffee experts often compare Hawaiian Kona with Jamaican Blue Mountain. Both have mild, suitable acidity and a delicate fruit sweetness. Kona's strict quality control means it rarely earns a poor review and its quality stays consistently high, whereas Blue Mountain occasionally draws negative comments.

Hawaiian Coffee Varieties

Besides the Kona region on the Big Island, the Hawaiian coffees commonly found on the market today include estates from Maui, Kahoolawe, and Kauai, which are also gaining prominence. Common Hawaiian coffee varieties include Typica, Mocca, and Catuai.

Kona Coffee nonetheless remains one of the most expensive coffees on the market. Under Hawaii Department of Agriculture rules, only coffee grown on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the Kona region of the Big Island may be called Kona Coffee. Hawaii's nearly year-round sunny mornings, foggy and rainy afternoons, all-day gentle breezes, and mild nights, plus mineral-rich volcanic soil, all contribute to its special flavor.

Kona Coffee Classification

Kona Coffee is divided into two major categories: Type I (flat beans) and Type II round beans, also called Peaberry.

These two categories are further divided by size, moisture content, and purity of variety. Type I is split into "Kona Extra Fancy," "Kona Fancy," "Kona Number 1," "Kona Select," and "Kona Prime." Type II Kona is divided into "Peaberry Number 1" and "Peaberry Prime." There is also a lower grade, "Number 3," which cannot be called Kona Coffee.

Challenges Facing Kona Coffee

The biggest threat to Kona Coffee in recent years comes from the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei). By late November 2010, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture announced that all green beans had to undergo methyl bromide fumigation or another six-step process before leaving the Big Island.

Going forward, coffee from the Kona region is likely to see significant swings in both production and price. For that reason, coffee farmers from Kauai, Kahoolawe, and Maui have gradually come to the fore over the past two years.

Hawaiian Coffee Harvest Season

Hawaiian coffee is harvested from July to January each year, and a single coffee tree yields only about one pound of fruit. That makes it quite rare.

FrontStreet Coffee's Hawaiian coffee comes from the Kona region, and we are devoted to the special flavor of Kona coffee.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests these brewing parameters:

V60 / 90°C / 1:15 / Time: two minutes

Flavor: mulberry, sugarcane

The Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago in the central-northern Pacific Ocean. They were also known as the "Sandwich Islands" from 1778 to 1898. As part of the Polynesian Islands, they form an archipelago of 19 larger islands plus other small islands, most of them volcanic or coral in origin. Lying between 19° and 29° north latitude, the archipelago is crossed by the Tropic of Cancer.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Kona's reputation for a clean, well-balanced cup is what interests you, Jamaican Blue Mountain is the closest point of comparison, and FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is the top grade of that origin. Strictly speaking, only coffee grown in a defined part of Jamaica's Blue Mountains and officially certified may be sold as Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee. The Blue Mountains rise in eastern Jamaica to a highest peak of 2,256 meters, and the whole region produces less than 2,500 tons a year -- a tiny fraction of world output. Japan has long bought more than 70% of that, so even less reaches the wider market.

FrontStreet's Blue Mountain No. 1 comes from the Clifton Farm, which was already growing and processing coffee by the mid-18th century, around 1750, at an average elevation of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). That altitude, the mild afternoon cloud cover that shades the trees, ample sunshine, and mineral-rich soil all slow the cherries' ripening. The beans are roasted to a medium-dark level, the traditional profile for Blue Mountain, which brings out its full body and the balance of acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, with a faint floral note and a rich mouthfeel.

For brewing, FrontStreet recommends a KONO dripper to emphasize the thicker body, using 15g of coffee per serving and letting the beans rest 4-7 days from the roast date (counting roast day as day one) for the best flavor. Grind slightly coarser than you would a light roast -- about the texture of white sugar -- and use 87-88°C water, since too hot a temperature is the usual cause of a scorched, bitter cup. A 1:15 ratio poured in three stages works well: 30g to bloom for 30 seconds, then up to 120g, then up to 225g with a slightly faster, wider pour to keep the bed from clogging and over-extracting.