You may have heard of Kona, Hawaii, well that is where Kona coffee comes from. Kona is the market name of the coffee that is cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the Kona district of the big island of Hawaii. This coffee’s reputation is so much so that it’s the one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Like with Champagne, only coffee beans that are grown in the Kona district may be called Kona.

The coffee plant was first brought to Kona in 1828 by Samuel Reverend Ruggles from cuttings that were brought there from Brazil. It took a century to make it a money making crop, being grown on large plantations that were gradually leased out to the workers who worked the farms. Today, there are roughly 800 coffee farms in Kona with the average farm being around 5 acres.

Kona coffee blooms in February and March with pretty white flowers that are called “Kona Snow”. In April green berries appear and by August a red fruit or “cherry” is created. The trees are hand picked from August to January and provides between 20-30 pounds of cherries.

Within 24 hours of picking the berries are stripped of their pulp and placed in a fermentation tank overnight. The beans are then rinsed and placed to dry; it takes 7-14 days to dry properly. The beans are then stored as “pergamino” or parchment. The parchment is milled off the green bean prior to being sold.

Kona coffee beans are classified according to seed type; for example Type 1 consists of cherries with 2 beans. Type 2 consists of one cherry that is round known as a peaberry. They are graded by size, shape, purity and moisture content.

Because of the cost and rarity of Kona coffee, some retailers sell “Kona Blends” which are coffees blended with Kona beans and Colombian, Brazilian or other foreign beans. The minimum requirement of the blend is 10% Kona beans and 90% of the other type.