Big Island Coffee News & Articles

More than just a competition, the Merrie Monarch Festival is a testament to the resilience, beauty, and spirit of the Hawaiian people. It stands as a powerful reminder of the importance of cultural preservation, storytelling, and the deep-rooted traditions that make Hawai‘i unique.

The boar embodies authenticity, even when it's messy. It confronts the polish of civilization with  the beauty and nostalgia of wildness. It acknowledges the difficult coexistence native and introduced, crossroads of past and future, having a foot in two worlds. It's a dedication to Hawaiʻi, the natural world, and the wild and beautiful places we have. 

Deep in Hawaii’s lush volcanic jungles, Māmaki  grows both wild and cultivated. It's a delicious native plant that is both restorative to your body and benefits Hawaii's native rainforest. Learn how it tastes, how to brew, and where to buy pesticide-free Mamaki Tea.

Don't get fooled into buying stale or counterfeit Kona coffee. If you want to know where to buy real Kona coffee while vacationing in Hawaii, or while shopping online, these 10 tips are for you.

Do you have organic Hawaiian coffees? Are they GMO or Fair Trade? What does Specialty mean? These are great questions deserving of thoughtful answers.

Question: "Hi guys, I have a client here I’m sharing your coffee with, and she started talking about mold and mycotoxin-free beans which are supposedly sold by Bulletproof Coffee / Dave Asprey, etc.

What are your thoughts on mold in relation to coffee? Thank you."

In Hawaii, farmers earn 30-60% of the price you pay for coffee. Outside of Hawaii, commercial coffee farmers earn as low as 5%. 

The answer to the question "why is the price of 100% Kona coffee so high?" starts with answering this: "Why are non-Hawaiian coffees priced so damn low?"

Red and black honey processed coffees are notorious for making exceptional espressos because they have a creamy or syrupy mouthfeel, a hint of fruit, and lower perceived acidity. They tend towards being full-bodied and sweet over having defined clarity and acidity.

By embracing a variety with deep roots in Africa and adapting it to the unique terroir of Hawaii, Hawaiian coffee farmers have created a coffee that is both rare and exceptional. If you’re looking to experience something truly unique, Kona Noir, our SL34 variety, is a must-try.

This is the story behind Ka'u Cloud Caturra, and how we used yeast in fermentation to boost the quality and create consistency. Yeast fermentation in coffee can do good or bad things to coffee, but it does either more consistently than “wild” fermentation.

Laylow has selected Big Island Coffee Roasters as its new, exclusive provider of coffee at Hideout! The Laylow, Autograph Collection was recently ranked in the 2022 Travel + Leisure’s 500 list of best hotels in the world. A perfect fit for awarded, artisan Hawaii-grown coffees.

The traditional variety, Kona Typica, is responsible for the balanced, sweet, and slightly floral tasting notes of great Kona coffee. With lighter roast Kona you’ll find notes of stone fruit and cocoa butter, whereas dark roasted Kona will result in a more chocolatey and nutty cup. Our roasting team decides the roast degree to bring out and enhance certain flavor profiles, hence the difference tasting notes found within each roast level. 

Not to be confused with barrel-aged whiskey, the coffee variety Bourbon, pronounced “boar-bone”, is among the most cherished varieties in the coffee world. With juicy red berry notes and abundant sweetness, red bourbon shines in the cup. It’s these qualities that attract consumers and coffee roasters alike.

This is a special post for home coffee roasters about roasting green Kona and Hawaiian coffee at home. | Treating Hawaiian coffee in the same way as green coffee beans from other origins will often lead to grainy or sharp flavors in the cup. To avoid this...

Espresso Bites, our edible coffee, is a Good Foods Awards winner! In a blind tasting, judges evaluated nearly *2000* national entries and selected winners across 18 categories. Espresso Bites won in the category of Confections! 

In 2021, we delivered more local coffees than ever before. In the last 12 months alone our coffee purchases have put 7-figures into the hands of Hawaii farmers, and 83% of that went to rural, artisan Big Island coffee farmers + the people they employ. Thank you ♡

This is a story of an unprecedented undertaking, tension and redemption. Now, at 94 points, this is one of the highest scoring traditional Kona coffees available. It's a top tier version of quintessential Kona coffee. Kona coffee times 10, produced through data-driven farming, teamwork, and precise roasting.