Kona Coffee
The history of Hawaiian coffee is started form 300-400 AD. The settlers came from Marquesas islands. In kona the coffee came form Brazil and at that time it was not well-known. There is an organization of Hawaii farmer who produce kona coffee. this protect the right of farmer and maintain the quality of kona coffee. the tree of kona coffee are not harvested mechanically because the cherry of the trees does not ripen at the same time. Hawaii is the only state of America who produce coffee.
The tree of Hawaii grow on the slope of the Hualalai and Mauna Loa mountains. The mountain of this area is rich in volcanic soil and the surprising point is that cloud appear on after noon regularly on that area. This is one of the unique and favorable thing for the growth of kona coffee. this atmosphere make kona coffee different from that of grown in other parts of the world. The tree of kona flourish more in dry winter and they are harvested in the season of autumn. There are two main region for kona coffee, it is the north and south island of kona.
The tree of kona is harvested by hand pick, then pulp. After this they are tried and hulled. The beans of kona are graded by size and shape. In which peaberry is on top and there is only one bean in one cherry due to this property a concentrated flavor is beans is produced. These beans contributes only 5% to 10% of the total kona coffee beans harvest. After this the other good grades are extra fancy, fancy no 1 and prime.
The beans of kona coffee are dried in the sun. roasting is process which is considered as an art because of this process the flavor of the coffee is adjusted. The dark roast is called French roast. To produce a flavored coffee, the beans of the coffee is immediately powdered after roasting.
An extraordinary care is needed in every step of the process to produce 100% pure kona coffee. this coffee has a unique stamp and more flavorful with rich in aroma. For producing perfect kona coffee a specific combination of sun, soil and water is required. Mostly the shinny day and humid rainy afternoons are prominent characteristics of this region.
There are about 600 independent farms in the kona region with 3 to 7 acre size. The total region of kona was 2290 in 1997 and the production of green coffee was over two million pounds. The tree are harvested from late august to late January and farmer pick only ripe berry, each tree is harvested several time in the whole season. The beans are pulped to remove the outer skin, this process give the beans of beans of main characteristics and the beans is dried and raked to maintain even drying.
Royal kona coffee is best of the best. The beans are selected from peaberry coffee beans, 100% kona. Peaberry beans are rare in the beans of kona coffee. it is most flavorful of the coffee.
