Becoming addicted is almost a given once someone takes their first sip of Kona coffee. The unique balance of Hawaii’s best Kona coffee beans are simply unmatched. True coffee lovers know, and have known for a long time, that one of the best and most flavorful coffee in the world is Kona coffee, made from beans that are grown in Northern slopes of Hawaii and Oahu.
You can be sure to get the tastiest coffee when you purchase gourmet coffees like Kona especially if made in a french press coffee maker. While Kona coffee’s are higher priced than other coffee blends, they are absolutely worth the price. This coffee is bought by people from everywhere, including other countries. Because of the growing conditions, which include beautiful, sunny mornings and afternoons with rain and humidity, the coffee is unique and flavorful.
The fresh gourmet Kona coffee beans come from a tree in Brazil. In the 1800’s, Hawaii saw Samuel Reverend Ruggles bring the first try of it’s kind to the island. Discovering that the weather and soil in Hawaii produced great crops, farmers begin growing the beans on large plantations. The best estimate is that 2,300 acres of land are now devoted to the growing of Kona coffee beans. The cultivation of fresh, gourmet Kona coffee beans is so successful that some two million pounds are produced every year.
The blooms of the Kona tree appear every February and March, which appears as tiny white flowers, commonly called Kona Snow. The green berries of the Spring turn to red fruit in the summertime that resembles cherries. It is a right time for the “fruit” to be harvested. One of the things that make fresh, gourmet Kona coffee so exceptional is that each bean is carefully, hand-picked.
Twenty four hours after the fruit is collected, it is run through a machine that makes sure the bean is separate from the pulp. This is followed by carefully-controlled fermentation of the beans, for 12 hours at lower elevations and for 24 hours at higher elevations. After the beans have been rinsed off lay them out on a drying apparatus to completely dry out which will take one to two weeks. You will have to be certain that your beans are dried and stored on parchment paper. Eight pounds of fruit are required to make one pound of fresh and gourmet Kona coffee.
You will even find that fresh, gourmet Kona coffee is classified by the type of seed. For example, Type I contains two beans for each cherry or fruit, one edge is flat and the other edge is oval. Beans of the Type II variety have only one bean per berry or fruit and that bean is round. Next, additional grading is assigned depending on multiple factors such as size, kind, moisture level, purity, etc. A better version of the Kona bean is evident when purchasing gourmet Kona coffee.
