Kona Coffee (Fancy)

Kona Coffee is an exceptional, full-flavored cup that will deliver a rich, full-bodied coffee with low acidity, a pleasing citrus aroma and a wonderfully smooth finish.

Kona Coffee hails from the slopes of Mount Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the north and south districts of Hawaii’s big island, and it is the only coffee grown in the United States.

Kona Coffee requires a particular combination of soil, sun and water that occurs only a few places on earth. Since it is produced in such limited quantities, Kona Coffee is one of the most rare and expensive coffees available.

Samuel Reverend Ruggles bought some Brazilian cuttings of the coffee plant to Hawaii in the nineteenth century. Over time these cuttings developed into an advantageous crop that was grown on large plantations. However, when the world coffee market crashed in 1899, plantation owners leased out their lands to their workers. This act began the tradition of family farms, which today represents approximately six hundred Kona Coffee farms that average less than five acres each.

Small, white flowers called “Kona Snow” emerge when the plant blooms in February and March. By August red fruit called “cherries” begin to be harvested, wet-processed and sun dried for about one week.