For the uninitiated, Kona coffee beans -- also known as green Kona coffee beans before roasting -- are some of the most robust and rich tasting coffee beans in the world. With careful hand-cultivation, traditional wet-method processing and just the right climate to raise the perfect coffee ingredient, Kona coffee beans yield a great tasting cup of coffee that's rich but not overbearing.Cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kona coffee beans come from the island's Kona district that features lots of sun in the mornings with clouds or rain in the afternoons. Combine that with low winds and mild nights, as well as loose, mineral-rich volcanic soil and you have just the right conditions for Kona coffee beans to develop and mature.

Unlike blends that may only feature a drop or two of real Kona coffee, 100% Kona coffee receives the utmost in care during every step of the process. That gives Kona coffee beans their delicate yet flavorful taste that's unmistakably 100% Kona, and it's why many coffee connoisseurs consider Kona coffee beans the best coffee beans in the world.

Why Kona?

With steep slopes, dark volcanic rock and a perfect climate, the region of Kona is an ideal place to grow coffee beans. With many independent producers engaged in hand-cultivation, Kona coffee beans are remarkably consistent, yielding a rich and medium-bodied taste with an inspiring aroma and a complex, almost wine-like or spicy flavor.

Exclusively producing coffee beans since the early 19th century, the Kona name only applies to beans grown in the southwest portion of the island. In fact, coffee beans grown elsewhere in Hawaii cannot use the Kona name.

With a very particular set of requirements, Kona coffee beans require lots of sun in the morning, humidity and precipitation in the afternoon, and mild nights. Kona coffee trees also love the volcanic rocky land and frost-free nights, which won't harm the growing beans.

Smaller, Independent Farms

While most coffee production worldwide has been consolidating with bigger and bigger players swallowing up the smaller ones and applying the efficiencies of scale to the coffee production process, Kona coffee sits at almost the other end of the spectrum. Meticulously raised by over 600 independent farms, most Kona coffee farms are small enterprises with less than 10 acres. Many Kona farms are also family-run, employing the same techniques used for over 100 years of Kona cultivation.

More labor-intensive than most other coffee cultivation worldwide, Kona coffee beans are harvested in late summer through about mid-winter to capture the ripe red coffee cherry at its most ideal point. Once processed, the cherry yields a green Kona coffee bean and is then prepared for sale or storage. All Kona coffee beans are hand-picked at peak maturity to ensure flavor and consistency, and even the trees themselves are picked multiple times throughout the season since the cherries don't all ripen at the same time.

In recent years, more Kona coffee farmers have also elected to further process their product, reducing the need to sell to specialized Kona processors before it can reach consumers. Today, you can find certain producers that sell parchment, green Kona coffee beans as well as roasted Kona coffee beans. Overall, there are more than 100 private Kona coffee brands.

What Is Wet-Method Processing?

After being removed from the tree, Kona coffee cherries peeled, fermented and washed in clean water. Fermenting gives Kona coffee its unmistakable bright and clear flavor, but after washing they're evenly raked and spread out for a natural sun-dry on large decks known as hoshindanas.

Once dry, the Kona coffee beans are milled by machines to help shed its parchment and silverskin, yielding green Kona coffee beans that are then sorted and graded. Prior to roasting, these green beans are sometimes sold to the public, which allows the consumer to roast them according to their preferred roasting practice.

Kona Coffee History

Arriving around 300-400 AD, the first settlers in Hawaii brought food, plants and animals to the islands, which quickly overran Hawaii's native flora and fauna, especially birds. European settlers arrived in the late 18th century, quickly establishing Hawaii as a port in worldwide trading routes. Through trade, countless cattle, goats and pigs further destroyed the island's various groundcover plants, revealing lots of plantable soil.

By the late 19th century, coffee was brought to Hawaii, but it was often grown on large plantations instead of the smaller operations we see today. However, a crash in the world coffee market in 1899 had many plantation owners thinking second thoughts about their coffee production, and most farmable land was leased back to the workers that then start producing Kona coffee beans in small, family-run farms.

Today, Kona coffee beans are grown by Japanese, Filipinos, mainland Americans and Europeans that have joined in on the Kona coffee bean tradition.