100 Kona coffee is all about, you guessed it Hawaiian Kona coffee. This coffee is expensive and tasty, though there are many folks out there who don’t think it deserves the cost associated with it, there are many others out there who believe it does deserve it’s costly price. I am one of those folks who enjoys the coffee tremendously but doesn’t necessarily believe that the flavor of the 100% Kona coffee is deserving of the price of the coffee. Mind you, I don’t believe that it is the bean or the flavor profile of these 100 Kona coffee beans that gives it its price.
Like most other products in a capitalist economy, prices is often and usually associated with supply and demand fundamentals. Not always the case, because you can by a Louis Vuitton purse anytime you want and they aren’t expensive because they are rare, but that’s for another day’s discussion.
History of 100 Kona coffee
Kona coffee that is 100% pure is expensive primarily because it is rare. So let’s understand firstly what 100 Kona coffee is and from that we’ll understand that it is rare. Coffee was introduced to Hawaii in 1863 but it was much later before it became an important and consistently viable crop. What has become known as Kona coffee and more broadly Hawaiian coffee, though the 2 are not the same, was originally taken from the cuttings of a Brazilian coffee plant.
Historically 100 Kona coffee was produced by large concerns but in 1899 the coffee market crashed and since then the coffee plantations in Hawaii and especially the Kona coffee plantations have been run and owned by small family concerns. Okay, so we still haven’t figured out exactly what 100 Kona coffee is. Well, here it is. Only coffee from the Kona districts of the big island of Hawaii can be called 100 pure Kona coffee and has to be labeled as 100% Kona coffee.
This coffee is cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona districts. It is the particular weather and growing conditions in the Kona district that make the 100 Kona coffee so sought after and delicious. The sunny mornings, cloudy/rainy afternoons, mild nights, mild to little wind and the porous and mineral rich volcanic soil is what gives this coffee it’s unique characteristics.
The area that gives us 100% pure Kona coffee is not large. Less than 2500 acres consisting of around 800 or so family farms that produced around 2 million pounds of coffee in 1997. That’s not a lot of coffee when you consider that in 2006, Brazil produced 2.6 metric tons which is over 5.7 billion pounds of coffee or over 2000 times more coffee. This is why you and I are paying a premium for 100 Kona coffee. Because it is 2000 times rarer than Brazilian coffee and arguably tastes better.
Where to buy 100 Kona coffee
Amazon has a terrific variety of 100 Kona coffee to buy. In fact I buy Kona coffee often from Amazon, except when I am looking to roast my own green Kona coffee beans. In fact, there are quite a lot of varieties of Kona mountain coffee to buy from Amazon and they also have 100% organic Kona coffee or organic 100% Kona coffee which is always a treat. Expect to pay around $30 or so for a pound of roasted 100 Kona coffee and perhaps half that much if you’re looking for green 100 Kona coffee beans.
There are many places on the internet and online to buy Kona coffee and I’d encourage you to explore a few different brands of Kona coffee to try, they will all offer subtle differences from each other, so find one you like. And remember that 100 Kona coffee is a specific Hawaiian coffee, it is the Hawaiian Kona coffee that you want that says 100% Kona coffee on it. If you have a choice, look for Kona Extra Fancy coffee or Kona Fancy grades as well as Peaberry Number 1. These are the best 100 Kona coffee you can find, so enjoy them.