Kona Coffee
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| Enjoying 100% Kona Coffee at the Kona Coffee & Tea Company |
Kona coffee is grown on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. The weather combined with porous, mineral rich volcanic soil, and high altitude creates ideal coffee growing conditions. Kona coffee beans are hand picked. Each bean is inspected as it is picked. This meticulous process insures that only cherries at peak maturity are harvested.
Kona coffee blooms in February and March as small white flowers cover the tree. Green berries appear in April. By late August, red fruit, called “cherry” begin to ripen for picking. Each tree will be picked several times between August and January since the cherries do not ripen at the same time. Each tree provides around 15 pounds of cherry, which results in about 2 pounds of roasted coffee.
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| Kona Coffee in the different stages
http://www.konacoffeeandtea.com/ |
Today Kona coffee is regarded as one of the finest gourmet coffees in the world. The Kona Coffee Belt is about 20 miles long and 2 miles wide. There are over 600 coffee farms in Kona. Most are small (usually 3-7 acres) and family owned.
One of the missions of the Hawaii Tours Traveling Trio while in Kona was to enjoy 100% Kona coffee. We were at a meeting at Hawaii Forest and Trail and noticed Kona Coffee & Tea Company located in the nearby shopping center. We headed over there and enjoyed some samples. Kona coffee has a soft yet full-bodied taste. The employees were very helpful and we bought several different types of 100% Kona Coffee to take home. They even shipped some directly for us! Be sure to check out their website! You can even buy from Kona Coffee & Tea Company online!
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| Photo from http://www.konacoffeeandtea.com |
Hawaii Tours Traveling Trio Travel Trip: When purchasing Kona Coffee be sure it is labeled 100% Kona Coffee. Many stores sell coffee labeled 10% Kona Coffee – be sure to avoid those blends.
On our last day in Kona we knew we needed to take advantage of the delicious Kona Coffee one more time so we stopped by Kona De Pele Café in Kona’s Coconut Grove Marketplace. This was one of the best cups of coffee I have ever had!
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| Kona De Pele Cafe |
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| Cheers to Kona! |
If you are going to be in Kona you must try 100% Kona Coffee! You may never look at your Starbucks the same again!
If you are not a coffee drinker but still want to take home a taste of Hawaii be sure to check out Hawaii Pineapples delivered to your hotel - a quick and easy way to get airport ready pineapples from Hawaii Discount. They can also ship directly to your home! These pineapples are grown on the North Shore of Oahu and are a great way to enjoy Hawaii when you are back home!
What is your favorite treat to bring home from Hawaii?
We always bring back Kona Coffee! We also cannot resist a few bags of "Donkey Balls"! Chocolate covered Macadamia nuts!
Kona Coffee and Donkey Balls! Doesn't get much better than that!
Nice to find and read your post. I hope you have enjoyed a lot and like to suggest you to visit Kona Coffee Tours, The World’s first Trellised Kona Coffee Plantation where kona coffee is grown like wine grapes. Most I like is three photos of Kona Coffee in the different stages from your post. Many thanks for sharing.
Mahalo Kona Coffee Tours! Kona coffee is my favorite!