No visit to the Big Island of Hawaii is complete without a stop at one of the family-owned coffee plantations that cover the hills of the Kona district providing some of the most sought after beans in the world. According to the Kona Coffee Council:
The Kona region contains approximately 600 independent coffee farms. Most are small, usually three to seven acres in size. Traditionally, as with most farms, they are a family concern. In 1997 the total Kona coffee acreage was 2290 acres and green coffee production just over two million pounds.
You can't help but enjoy the charm of these small-scale operations. We chose to visit the Kona Lea Plantation, the home of Holualoa Kona Coffee company about 10 minutes up the hill from Kailua Kona. The self-guided tour of this plantation allows you to freely wander their grounds and milling operations while they are creating the final product. At the end of the tour, you are greeted by the friendly staff (thanks Nancy) back at the roasting and packaging house.
In addition to their own coffee, Holualoa also roasts and bags for 100 other nearby farms. We enjoyed their coffee and purchased a variety of dark-roasted blends to bring back for friends. We even got a pound of the peaberry from Holualoa (pricey at $55 a bag, but well worth it.)
If you are on the island, I would highly suggest taking one of these tours. On a pleasant day, there is little more relaxing than walking through the coffee plantation and enjoying the sun with your family
Inspecting the roasting process
The drying deck
In the tasting room
Beautiful coffee cherry right off the branch
Deep in the coffee forest
Beans on the tree
2 comments:
$55 for a pound of Kona Peaberry and especially bought on the farm itself is a tad pricey. We sell it for $34.50 incl. shipping and still make a decent profit. So I assume that this is not their own peaberry but bought from another farm. But the folks there indeed are nice and it is very well kept operation. In the meantime the number of farms in Kona are about 900, ranging from a few trees to handful with 30 acres and more in coffee.
Mahalo for your write up about Kona!
Joachim,
Thanks for you the info. I am not sure if that was a steep price or not. Apparently this bag was all from their farm and of course the peaberry makes up a much smaller percentage of the crop. Also thanks for the info about the number of farms. I got my info from the Kona Coffee Council, but I am sure that doesn't necessarily include everyone.
Keep it darkroasted.
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