Kona Coffee - taste of the Islands

Kona coffee refers to coffee that comes from the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii is ideally located for coffee production with year round sunshine and moderately high temperatures, a plentiful supply of clean rainwater, few natural pests, low pollution, and rich volcanic soil. In many ways, these are the perfect conditions for coffee production and it is easy to see why Kona coffee is quickly gaining in popularity.

Kona coffee tends to be produced in smaller amounts by individual farmers who take a lot of pride in their coffee. This can be contrasted with many of the huge coffee plantations in other parts of the world where thousands of poorly paid workers work for a crop that they will rarely see any benefit from and will receive few of the profits from. While many fair trade projects are trying to guarantee coffee farmers around the world fairer prices for their crops, there is still a long way to go.

Kona coffee growers are located throughout the Hawaiian islands and many say you can taste different flavours in the coffee from each of Hawaii’s main islands. Kona coffee is also frequently roasted by small local roasters and you really are getting a personal taste of the locality with each crop of kona coffee.

However, kona coffee can be a lot more expensive that coffee from other parts of the world. This is because of the high labour and land costs on Hawaii and the cost of transportation. However, many people are willing to pay a premium for what they see as a superior product. You can if you like, buy kona blend coffee which is usually 10% kona coffee mixed with other crops and this costs a lot less than pure 100% kona coffee. There are a growing number of retailers that sell kona coffee all over the country and you are also beginning to find kona coffee in the more up market coffee sellers of Europe, particularly in the UK where traditional coffee brands have had less market strength than in Italy and France. If you would like a gentle flavour of the islands, then try some kona coffee today. We’re confident that you’ll love it.