I was a Kona coffee farmer for almost a decade. While selling my coffee at local farm markets, I would often hear, “Gee, this is expensive! Is it really worth it? What makes Kona coffee so special?”
It’s a fair question. If you find it on your local grocery store’s shelves, Kona coffee is likely priced quite a bit higher than the rest of the coffee. Not surprisingly, the conditions that make Kona coffee expensive are also the things that make it special. The fertile soil, the ideal weather, and the “by hand” farming techniques required to grow it all contribute to the delicious flavors you will find in your cup.
What Makes it Kona Coffee?
Kona Coffee grows in one location in the world: The North and South Kona Districts of the island of Hawaii. The state of Hawaii is made up of eight major islands, the largest of which is also named Hawaii and is usually known as The Big Island. For security reasons, the US Military divided the Kona District during World War II into North and South Kona. Found on the West Side of Hawaii Island, North and South Kona make up about half of the island’s coastline. This narrow geographical area is the only growing location for coffee marketed as Kona coffee. The best of the coffees come from the narrow band known locally as “the coffee belt.”
Fun Fact
Coffee grows in other districts on The Big Island – Kau-grown coffee (just to the south of South Kona) has been building quite a reputation of late – and also on other of the Hawaiian Islands, such as Maui, Oahu, and Kauai.
The Soil Makes Kona Coffee Special
The gift of the volcanoes is a very fertile soil, rich in minerals. Volcanic soil is well-known for its effects on plant growth. As luck would have it, the Hawaiian Islands are part of the Hawaiian – Emperor seamount chain, entirely made of ancient (and not so ancient) volcanoes. The Big Island itself is made of five volcanoes that have popped up as the Earth’s crust passes over the Hawaii Hotspot. Kilauea is the volcano that you often see in the news for its VERY frequent eruptions. It is over that hotspot. The Kona districts are on the flanks of Hualālai and Mauna Loa, where my farm was located.
Fun Fact
Mauna Loa is the largest mountain in the world that has part of its mass above water. Mauna Kea, another of the volcanoes, is the tallest – taller than Mount Everest when measured from its base on the sea floor, and Kilauea, until recently, had flowed pretty much non-stop for over 30 years and has been putting on a world-class show for the last decade.
The Weather Makes Kona Coffee Special
Hawaii is famous for its tropical weather. People save money their entire lives to come to what they believe will be a paradise; in fact, my wife’s cousin informed us that Austrians use Hawaii and paradise interchangeably! Visitors are usually not disappointed if they come during the dry season, between November and April. The rest of the year can be subject to many rainy days, depending on the location of the jet stream. In general, however, a typical day on our farm meant a sunny morning, with clouds beginning to move in around noon. About 2:20, we would likely get a short rain shower, with the real rain likely to show up at 4:30.
Weather like this is ideal for coffee growing. The sun is great for the trees in the morning, and the clouds roll in just when the sun is at its strongest. As the sun warms the ocean waters, the air expands, pushing the moist air up the mountain where it condenses, forming clouds and precipitation. The resulting afternoon and evening rains make sure that the plants stay properly hydrated. The dry season happens when it is time to pick and process. It is a climate perfectly suited for coffee growing.
The Farming of Kona Coffee
There are approximately 600 Kona coffee farms, with an average size of fewer than 5 acres. It is one of the few places in the United States where a small family farm can still be profitable. There are a few large farms, such as Greenwell Farms, which contains some 80 acres and manages orchards on another 60.
The Trees
Coffee first came to Hawaii in 1828; Reverend Samuel Ruggles brought cuttings from coffee trees in Brazil to the Kona coast. Today, Kona coffee trees are almost entirely of the species Coffea arabica and come from the Guatemalan typica. This particular variety has been growing so well and for so long in Kona that it is now its own “Kona typica.” Since 2011, the Kona Coffee Farmers Association has recommended that all new plantings be from Kona typica stock.
Growing
The challenges of growing Kona coffee are many. The search for “our” farm, led us to many of what are known as “spaghetti lots;” long and slender plots with steep and rocky terrain. Additionally, those lots in the coffee belt have that fertile soil I mentioned earlier. While that is great for growing coffee, unfortunately, most of what wants to grow is NOT coffee. I used to joke that 90% of coffee farming in Hawaii is trying to beat back the jungle. While it might be an exaggeration, it sure didn’t feel like it! Weed whipping is an everyday job when you want to gain an organic certification and avoid chemical weed killers and fertilizers. On the plus side, we had the best worms, which made composting about the easiest thing in the world.
Every year, coffee trees require pruning. Depending on the pruning method, either one-fourth of your coffee trees need to be “stumped,” or you have to cut the oldest of four branches off of each tree. I had over 5,000 trees. You definitely need a sharp saw and a strong arm because this is all done by hand.
Throughout the year, you check the trees to remove any unwanted growth, fertilize them, spray fungus to keep the berry borers at bay, remove vines that have grown seemingly overnight, and generally maintain the entire orchard.
Picking
Eight or nine months after your flowerings, it is time to pick. Kona will bloom several times, so you only want to pick the coffee that is ripe. Hand picking is a must for Kona coffee. The difficult terrain and the fact that you might have ripe and green coffee (plus coffee flowers!) all at the same time, requires a skilled picker. A skilled picker can pick 400 to 600 lbs of cherry per day. I could pick 200 lbs. on a good day, dawn to dusk. Luckily, I had skilled help at picking time. I have heard that the old-time Japanese farmers would pick all night by the light of the full moon.
Processing
After picking, the coffee cherry is pulped and demucilaged to remove the fruit. The seed/beans are dried, which can take two weeks if done in the sun. Remember, it gets cloudy every day in Kona. Following that is milling to remove the seed coat or parchment, and then roasting, bagging, and selling.
Marketing Kona Coffee
Selling Kona coffee can be challenging. If one desires the easy way, a farmer can sell his coffee cherry to a processor who will mix it with coffee from other farms and sell it under a brand name. This subjects the farmer to the vagaries of the marketplace. Sometimes the price is okay, but more often it barely keeps up with the cost paid to have it picked.
A One Man Show
A farmer can also do it all: websites, farm markets, and grocery stores are the usual ways, but some farms offer tours, and some have coffee shops where they sell their product by the bag and by the cup. A Kona coffee farmer must wear many hats to make a living. When we decided to “take the plunge” and move our family to an entirely different lifestyle, I did my research. I made a spreadsheet, which has become something of a family joke, as the spreadsheet, despite all the formulas, did not represent reality as we found it. I learned that the best way to make a small fortune growing coffee was to start with a large fortune and buy a coffee farm. It will definitely get smaller!
Blends
Some processors blend Kona coffee with coffee from other parts of the world, such as Brazil or Central America. By law, these coffees must be clearly marked as such and contain a minimum of 10% Kona-grown coffee. But you have to be a careful consumer. I once found coffee from The Kona Roasting Company that was not grown in Kona – it was roasted in Kona. Most blenders sell both 100% Kona and 10% Kona Blends. I’m pretty sure the similarity in appearance to 100% led to that 10% number. If you ever find what you think is a great price on Kona coffee, read the bag carefully. Some sellers are more scrupulous in their labeling than others.
Every time someone told me that they had tried Kona and “didn’t think it was any big deal,” they had invariably bought it at T.J. Maxx or the like for $5. I can guarantee that it was a blend. In fact, I wrote about this in The Coffee Lover’s Dictionary: Once, I found a bag of Trump-branded “Kona” coffee (long before his political career and I’m sure he simply licensed his name to it) that was a “sneaky” blend. There was a large class-action lawsuit on exactly this point that was settled in the favor of the farmers.
You may hear from time to time that Kona coffee needs to be blended “because it’s too strong.” Nah, baby, nah. 100% Kona from a reputable source (like, farm-direct) is some of the best coffee in the world. I mean, think about it: If it is only 10% Kona, then it must be 90% something else, right? Guatemalan floor sweepings, maybe?
A Note From Tim – Why is Kona Coffee So Expensive?
Growers face real expenses in the form of labor. Most coffee farms are leasehold properties; you know, sharecroppers. The landowner, Kamehameha Schools, receives a percentage of the production as rent. There are mortgage payments. You must pay your weed whippers, pickers, and processers. Also, factor in that Hawaii is located in the United States, and so, all those whippers, pickers, and processers have to be paid US-style wages. And since a coffee bean can be touched up to 40 times by the time it finds its way to your cup, Kona might actually be a bargain!
So, is Kona coffee worth the extra expense? In the final analysis, that is up to you to decide. Of course, individual farms and processors mean that there are going to be variations in flavor and quality. As the old coffee farmer saying goes, “The only thing you can do with coffee after you pick it is make it worse!” The best Konas, properly prepared, are as good as any coffee I have ever tasted. The almost perfect growing conditions do their part to please your palate.
So, I recommend supporting your local (or not so local) Kona coffee farmer. You can do that by finding their direct website, purchasing from them at their local farmers’ market, or even supporting them in their related activities (like buying their book 😉).