The Best Kona Coffee Growth and Popularity
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
The name Kona coffee is used to refer to various kinds of Arabica coffee that is grown on the slopes of the Hawaiian district of Kona for commercial production and sale. The weather conditions prevalent in Kona are near perfection for the healthy growth of Arabica coffee plant, i.e. bright sunlight in the morning, humid afternoons with rainfalls, and a moderate temperature at night. These climatic conditions result in the production of coffee that is considered as one of the world’s best coffee, known in the market as Kona coffee.
The Origin of The Best Kona Coffee
Arabica coffee plant was introduced in Kona by Samuel Reverend Ruggles who took cuttings of the plant from Brazil to Hawaii in the 19th century. The Best Kona coffee was not very popular until the late 19th century when plantation owners gave their lands to workers on lease whose cultivation resulted in large coffee crops of high quality. Most of the workers cultivating coffee were Japanese families who, along with European, American, and Filipino workers, persist to grow coffee as ‘family farming’ in Kona.
Growing The Best Kona Coffee
Coffee plants cultivated in Kona bloom in the months of February and March. But, it is not until August when the fruit of the coffee plants is ripe enough for picking. Hand-picking of ripe cherry (coffee fruit) start in August and continue until January, each coffee plant producing up to 30 pounds of cherry. Beans are separated from the pulp of the cherry and due to the processes of fermentation, rinsing and drying, and roasting.
Types of The Best Kona Coffee Beans
The best Kona coffee beans are of two main types, known as Type 1 beans and Type 2 beans. Type 1 beans are flat on one of their sides and oval on the other side; two beans obtained from a single coffee fruit. Type 2 beans are rounded and one bean occurs in each coffee fruit. Based on other properties like size and moisture content etc, each of these two types of the best Kona coffee beans are further divided into subtypes like Kona Prime, Kona Fancy, and Kona Number 1 etc.
Kona Blends
Pure Kona coffee is still a rare commodity and this fact has led most retailers to sell Kona blends. Majority of these blends contain a proportion of 10% of the best Kona coffee and 90% of other coffee beans that are usually of inferior quality and cost cheaper than Kona beans. Kona blends are thought to be responsible for the recent decrease in the popularity of the best Kona coffee.
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