While it may seem easy to purchase Kona coffee, without the seal of approval from the Kona coffee farms you're not drinking 100% pure Kona coffee. The Kona coffee bean is grown on the islands of Hawaii at 800 feet above sea level in the north and south Kona mountain districts.

Hawaiian farmers harvest the hills of Mount Hualalai and Mauna Loa and many have been doing so since the 1800's. At one point time in the 1800's the coffee plant was imported to the Hawaiian Islands, plantation owners then began to grow coffee and developed the Kona flavor.The crash of the coffee market that occurred around 1900 caused many plantation owners to walk away from their farms, leaving the land to the workers.Workers continued to develop the unique Kona flavor and were eventually able to buy the plantations from the original owners. This resulted in five acre farms of Kona coffee beans belonging to different families who still work those farms today.

There are a wide variety of blends that can be purchased at your favorite market.  In fact some of them have become favorite flavors such as hazelnut, breakfast blend, dark roast, and others. Although you may think you're drinking Kona coffee when you drink these blends the fact of the matter is that they're blended with other coffee beans from around the world. In order to drink 100% Kona coffee, you must have the seal of approval from the Kona Farms. It's okay to purchase a Kona coffee blend, but remember, it may only contain 10% actual Kona coffee.

Kona coffee is known over the world as a wonderful, smooth coffee with a very sweet flavor. Each coffee plant produces three to five pounds of actual coffee beans throughout the season. In February, the trees bloom and then along about March, the green coffee beans develop. Harvesting usually begins in August and can go completely through December.  While the farms are family owned, there is a Kona coffee board that oversees to make sure that coffee that is purer is labeled as pure, and those that are blends are not.

There are many different types of coffee that is available today for your drinking pleasure.  The Hawaiian Kona coffee blend is one of the most sought after.  Many times, inferior beans are added to different beans from around the world to produce a Kona coffee blend. These inferior Kona beans would never have made it into the actual 100% pure Kona coffee. Just as with everything else, coffee beans are rated according to color, crispness, humidity level, and flavor, and only the best go into 100% pure Kona coffee.