Q & A

Standard orders are roasted-to-order Monday - Thursday and ship Tuesday - Friday, with the roast date applied to the bag.

There are two exceptions to this rule:

1) When your order includes a Reserve coffee that will be roasted on a special roast date only, your entire order will be held until that time.

Current Reserve coffees include Barrel-Aged Puna, Kona Geisha, and Carbonic Maceration Kona Geisha.

2) When your order includes a Club offering. Club coffees are shipped during the first week of each month.

Club coffees include the Tasters Club, Cuppers Club, Explorers Club, Roasters Club, and Barrel-Aged Coffee of the Month Club.

Coffee orders may take 1-3 days to process based volume at the time.

FedEx orders are prioritized, roasted immediately, and ship M-F. Please note that we cannot FedEx packages on Saturdays nor offer Saturday delivery.

When free shipping is your elected service, we may ship via USPS First Class, Priority, FedEx, or UPS.

None of our coffees are flavored whatsoever. Similar to great wines, the tasting notes describe natural flavors imparted by the terroir, coffee variety, and the farmers' processing techniques.

You can learn more about common tasting notes in Hawaiian coffees with our Guide to Hawaiian Coffee Growing Regions.

Our top choice for espresso drinkers is Hawaiian Harmony, which is a 100% Hawaiian blend designed for espresso.

As an espresso, with Hawaiian Harmony, you'll get ample crema, with a balanced sweetness and notes of butterscotch, cocoa, nutmeg, and dried fruit.

For those preferring a light roast espresso blend, we recommend Maui Mellow.

For those seeking a darker roast espresso blend, we recommend Maui Mokka.

Each bag in our Hawaiian Coffee Subscriptions and Gift Subscriptions includes 10-14 oz of Hawaiian coffee.

Tasters Club: 1 bag / month

Cuppers Club: 2 bags / month 

Explorers Club: 3 bags / month

Roasters Club: 4 bags / month

Each bag in the Barrel-Aged Hawaiian Coffee Subscription includes 10 oz of coffee.

We vary the quantity in each bag so subscribers can enjoy a greater variety of the coffee in Hawaii, from the rare and highly rated coffees, like peaberry, to those that are commonly available.

None of our coffees are certified organic, though many are no spray, which means that neither herbicides nor pesticides are used.

Like you, we shop organic when possible. We do so for two reasons: 1) the ecological impact, 2) the impact on health.

Although Big Island Coffee Roasters is not an organically certified facility, we're deeply thoughtful about both topics as they surround coffee. (Co-founder Kelleigh has a degree in Organismal and Conservation Biology, and the other co-founder, Brandon, gained his farming experience in organic agriculture in Portland.)

In order to be certified organic, equipment must be designated for organically certified coffees only. Because we work with 25+ farmers, and because so few coffees in Hawaii are organically certified, it would be operationally inefficient and unnecessarily raise the cost to you.

Even when not organic, we'd argue that Hawaiian coffee is some of the best coffee you can buy if you're concerned about both ecological impact and health. Here's why:

ON ECOLOGICAL IMPACT:

We're concerned about the water, land, and endemic, native species living on it.
Here in Hawaii, and in many coffee producing areas around the globe, "organic" often means that it's simply not fertilized at all, or not fertilized adequately. For instance, each "organic" but under-fertilized coffee tree might produce 2 lb of coffee cherry, when it could produce 10 lb with conventional fertilizer. Low production motivates farmers to clear more native forest land so they can produce greater volumes.

We see this play out near our farm, where an organic 9-acre farm looks to produce less than what we can produce on 1/3rd of the land.

Because Hawaii is isolated, Hawaiian coffees aren't plagued with the same fungal and pest issues as areas like Brazil, where the pesticides can be harsh, dangerous, and complex. In Hawaii, our biggest challenge is a beetle called Coffee Berry Borer, which can be dealt with using organic, parasitic fungi. Cool, huh? Check it out!  

Perhaps the greatest ecological threat in Hawaiian coffee is the use of Round-Up. While we do not use Round-Up whatsoever on our Puna coffees (we use sheep instead), many farmers still do.

ON HEALTH:

We strongly advocate drinking specialty Hawaiian coffee if you're concerned about your health. Specialty grade coffees are assessed by certified Q Graders as being genuinely high quality, which also means free from harmful carcinogenic fungi that can grow on coffee - aflatoxin and ochratoxin. These fungi are found in cheap blends and commodity coffees. Yes, even in Hawaii.

All of our coffees are specialty-grade. Not only do specialty Hawaiian coffees taste better, but they're better for you. We take every measure to protect the coffee from anything that might deteriorate the quality -- from Q cupping, milling in small batches, grading, optical sorting, and storing in moisture-resistant Grain Pro.

For a deep dive into mycotoxins and the specialty coffee industry, please see this blog.

Have any additional questions on this topic? Let us know.

We grow all of the Puna coffees which currently include: Puna Kazumura, Honeyed Yellow Caturra, Kazumura Peaberry,  and Barrel Aged Puna coffee.  (Several of these listed Puna coffees are only available to coffee club members.)

Other Hawaiian coffees are sourced directly from local producers, several of which we work closely with to develop and provide.

This is our line of specialty-grade non-Hawaiian coffees. They may be offered as espresso, blends, single origin, or direct trade.

All of these offerings are either certified Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance certified, or organically grown (but not organic certified). 

Here's the short answer: between 1-3 business days.

Here's the longer answer: Standard orders are roasted-to-order Monday - Thursday and ship Tuesday - Friday, with the roast date applied to the bag.

Coffee orders may take 1-3 days to process based volume at the time.

FedEx orders are prioritized, roasted immediately, and ship M-F. Please note that we cannot FedEx packages on Saturdays nor offer Saturday delivery.

When free shipping is your elected service, we may ship via USPS First Class, Priority, FedEx, or UPS.

There are two exceptions to this rule:

1) When your order includes a Reserve coffee that will be roasted on a special roast date only, your entire order will be held until that time.

Current Reserve coffees include Barrel-Aged Puna, Kona Geisha, and Carbonic Maceration Kona Geisha.

2) When your order includes a Club offering. Club coffees are shipped during the first week of each month.

Club coffees include the Tasters Club, Cuppers Club, Explorers Club, Roasters Club, and Barrel-Aged Coffee of the Month Club.

Because Espresso Bites are made without stabilizers or preservatives, they may bloom or melt when shipping temperatures exceed 80 F. The good news is that, although they might not be so pretty, they're still delicious! Just pop them in the freezer to re-solidify.

If you'd like to ensure your Espresso Bites do not melt in transit, please select FedEx delivery.

We do not accept returns or refunds on Espresso Bites when the buyer selects Free Shipping or USPS delivery. However, we'll gladly provide a refund or credit if our products are damaged when shipped via FedEx.

If your order is incorrect or damaged in any way, please email us at hello@bigislandcoffeeroasters.com with your order number within 5 days of receiving your order.

View our Shipping & Return policy.

Hmmm… lets start with dinner and a movie.

We can ship directly to your location, including your hotel, or you can find our coffees at these retailers: Where To Buy Big Island Coffee Roasters

Perhaps one day we'll change our minds, but today we aim to do one thing really well: provide the best Hawaiian coffees available, while protecting the land, and contributing to our community. 

That alone requires a deep understanding of vertical integrations,  farmer relationships, and processes that drive sustainable practices.

Hence, we do not have a retail storefront or cafe at this time.

Please visit one of our partner cafes, retailers, or order online.

We LOVE meeting coffee lovers, but we just can't juggle it all. So today we aim to do one thing really well: provide the best Hawaiian coffees available, while protecting the land, and contributing to our community. 

That alone requires a deep understanding of vertical integrations,  farmer relationships, and processes that drive sustainable practices.

Hence, we do not have a public tour program at this time. However, we LOVE meeting our coffee club members and long-time customers. If time permits, we do make exceptions. Feel free to reach out if you're in that category.

For all media, press and interview inquiries, please reach out to us at aloha@bigislandcoffeeroasters.com

✺ 2013 Grand Champion coffee in the state of Hawaii (Puna coffee)

✺ 2013 Coffee Review’s worldwide "Top 30 Coffees" for Honeyed Yellow Caturra

✺ 2014 Hawaii State Senate Certificate

✺ 2015 voted "Hawaii’s Favorite Artisan Beverage" by Edible Hawaii readers.

✺ 2017 Hawaii 40 Under 40, for volunteer work with the Hawaii Coffee Association

✺ 2018 Forbes “Worlds Best Hotel Coffee is at the Four Seasons Hualalai”

✺ 2018 Forbes listed "Top 12 Roasters in the USA"

✺ 2018 $25,000 HI Plan Winner for Espresso Bites

✺ 2019 AllRecipes.com "Best Gifts for Coffee Lovers" #2: Espresso Bites!

✺ 2019 Coffee Review "Top 30 Coffees of 2019" list for Barrel Aged Puna

✺ 2020 Hawaii Entrepreneurs of the Year, CPG categrory. 

No, we keep a low profile. Our farm, mill and roasting company are tucked back in the jungle, with neither signage nor address posted.