IntroductionFigure 2. Coffee tree. (Photo by Ellen Sorenson)
Our first stop of the day was the coffee belt of Kona, a 20 by 2 mile stretch of lush vegetation and abundant rainfall that accounts for less than 1% of the world’s coffee. Hawai_ian coffee is descended from Arabica beans, which has less caffeine but offers a smoother taste. We toured the Holualoa Kona Coffee Company, a 100% organic company that heavily relies on WWOOFers (World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms) for the majority of their work force.
Check out a video of a tour of Holualoa Kona Coffee Co. What is Kona Coffee?Figure 4. The drying of coffee beans is quite the aromatic process. (Photo by Ellen Sorenson)
Kona Coffee is gourmet coffee grown in only one place in the world, on the big island of Hawai`i. Along the golden Kona Coast on a very small number of Kona coffee farms. Most of these farms are owned by the same kama'aina families for generations is where Kona coffee is harvested, processed, roasted, and brewed. Making it a stand alone product that does not need to be blended to have a balanced taste. Running ~$17 for an 8oz bag. Kona possesses the perfect environment for growing Arabicas. The best estates grow beautiful, large, flat beans, which produce a medium-bodied brew, with buttery, spicy characteristics.This coffee is grown in one of the smallest world known coffee districts.
How is Coffee in Kona made?Kona's coffee cherries are ripe from September through December and each one of the trees must be hand-picked several times during the season. Once picked, the cherries are pulped, processed and spread out on a "hoshidana" drying rack for at least 7 days in the sun. This allows the beans to seal up and preserves the flavor. The drying coffee is called "parchment" or Kona Gold because there is a golden skin covering the bean.
Once the beans are dry, they are milled to remove the parchment skin, and graded. Only beans which grade (primarily by size) as Prime and above can be called "Kona", the remainder is called "Hawaiian". Finally, green Kona ready to roast! It takes about 7 pounds of cherry to get to one pound of roast. |
_Interesting Climatic SituationFigure 3. The area between the red lines indicates the Kona coffee belt. (Map by Jon Bowen)
Kona is unique from the other Hawai'ian Islands because of it's trade wind inversion that allows the island to escapes the "tropical Mediterranean" climate making this region successful for coffee production. Land and sea breeze with afternoon orthographic clouds producing rain showers, enormous amounts of summer rainfall, and afternoon cloudiness create perfect growing conditions for coffee. The trade wind inversion produces extreme rainfall, the lowest elevations of the coffee belt receive about 30 inches of rain whereas the highest elevations receive 60 inches. Afternoon cloudiness creates just enough shade for the coffee plants to be considered 'shade grown' coffee without the need of planting other types of trees. In addition to these perfect coffee growing conditions, Kona is on the leeward side of the island protecting the region from severe winter storms and flooding; leaving the Kona to experience only light showers and slight breeze.
New Meets the OldCoffee farms are situated on elongated sections of traditional land divisions called Ahupua'a. These narrow land divisions span maybe a stone's throw wide by several miles long and run down the side of the mountain's slope. These traditional land divisions have influenced the layout of coffee farms today. Houses and coffee production tend to be spread out and stacked upon each other versus being in close proximity. Machinery has to be tested frequently for pulling power and to make sure failure does not occur because the outcomes are serious given the narrow land divisions.
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Sources
Hawai'i: New Geographies. 1999. Department of Geography. University of Hawai'i-Manoa.
"Coffee from Indonesia New Guinea - Coffee Universe." Espresso and Coffee Information from Coffee Universe. Bellissimo, Inc., 1995. Web. 14 Dec. 2011 (http://coffeeuniverse.com/world_coffee_indones.html).
"Kona Coffee CSA." Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food. LocalHarvest, Inc., 1999. Web. 14 Dec. 2011 (http://www.localharvest.org/kona-coffee-csa-C12148).
"Kona Coffee CSA." Kona Coffee - 100% Pure Hawaiian Kona Coffee Direct from Kona, Hawaii from the Oldest and Most Trusted Kona Coffee Retailer Online. Free Shipping on 100% Pure Kona Coffee at KonaCoffee.com. Paradise Treasures KonaCoffee.com, 1995. Web. 06 Dec. 2011 (http://www.konacoffee.com/).
"Coffee from Indonesia New Guinea - Coffee Universe." Espresso and Coffee Information from Coffee Universe. Bellissimo, Inc., 1995. Web. 14 Dec. 2011 (http://coffeeuniverse.com/world_coffee_indones.html).
"Kona Coffee CSA." Local Harvest / Farmers Markets / Family Farms / CSA / Organic Food. LocalHarvest, Inc., 1999. Web. 14 Dec. 2011 (http://www.localharvest.org/kona-coffee-csa-C12148).
"Kona Coffee CSA." Kona Coffee - 100% Pure Hawaiian Kona Coffee Direct from Kona, Hawaii from the Oldest and Most Trusted Kona Coffee Retailer Online. Free Shipping on 100% Pure Kona Coffee at KonaCoffee.com. Paradise Treasures KonaCoffee.com, 1995. Web. 06 Dec. 2011 (http://www.konacoffee.com/).