FARMING:
The Big Island Kona coffee belt is an area roughly one mile wide by thirty
miles long. It is situated on the western slopes of two volcanoes, Hualalai and
Mauna Loa, at an elevation ranging from 500 to 2,500 feet. This region
possesses soil and a microclimate ideal for cultivating premium coffee. Coffee
trees thrive in Kona's rich, well-drained volcanic soil, year round mild
frost-free temperatures. There are few diseases and pests to prey on the
coffee.
Easterly trade winds blow consistently, moving across great expanses of the
Pacific Ocean before reaching the Hilo side of the Big Island. The winds are
tempered after hitting the eastern slope of Mauna Loa, which rises to 13,000
feet. The breezes that make it over the top of the volcano to Kona on the
leeward western slope are gentle enough to leave the delicate coffee flowers
unharmed. There is plenty of morning sun and, generally, in the afternoon,
clouds provide shade protection from the strong sun and adequate moisture. Year
round temperatures are mild; there is no frost.
The coffee plant is botanically classified as a bush or shrub, but is known as
a "tree" and may reach a height of 30 feet if left unpruned. The
trees are pruned regularly, however, to encourage large production and
facilitate harvesting. Three years must pass, from the time of planting, before
a coffee tree will bear the fruit known as coffee "cherry."
The coffee cherry is a sweet pulpy fruit that that turns red when ripe and
envelops two seeds, the coffee beans. A thin skin called "parchment"
covers the two beans. Eight bags of ripe Kona coffee cherry yield just one bag
of roasted coffee.
Cultivation of coffee is more labor intensive than any other agricultural
commodity; in Kona it is even more so than in most other regions. Because
coffee blossoms appear over a several month period, coffee cherries ripen at
varying times. This causes the typical Kona harvest season to extend from
August to January. Thus, the coffee farmer must peruse the fields up to eight
times to make certain that all ripe coffee cherry is picked when ripe and
before it becomes overripe. Mechanical harvesting is impossible in Kona because
the land rocky with lava, sloping, and difficult to traverse. Hand-picking is a
meticulous and exhausting process that allows for harvest of only the highest
quality cherry. Bright red cherries are picked; green, yellow, dark red, brown,
and black berries are culled or left on the tree to ripen
A good coffee picker can pick one 100 lb. bag of coffee cherry in a day. An
experienced and adept picker, in a rich harvest season, can pick three bags a
day.
Coffee is now cultivated on a massive scale by large corporations in Kauai,
Molokai and Maui. It is not planted in rich, porous volcanic soil like found in
Kona, but in exhausted sugar cane clay soil with poor drainage. This low
elevation coffee is, for the most part, artificially irrigated, sun scorched,
force ripened, mechanically harvested, and produces small beans with a high
occurrence of defects. It may be Hawaiian coffee but, it does not do not have a
fraction of the smooth but lively taste and rich aroma of Kona grown coffee.
The Kona coffee farmers are the backbone of the Kona coffee industry. They work
hard and take pride in their heritage and the history of the Kona coffee
region. They produce of a high quality crop that yields a gourmet product,
unique in the world.
PROCESSING:
The harvested coffee cherry must be processed prior to roasting. Just as the
cherry must be harvested at just the right stage of ripeness to achieve optimal
quality, so must each phase of processing be completed on a tight schedule to
assure the best tasting coffee.
First, the coffee cherry must be is "pulped" to remove the red skin
and mucilaginous pulp that surrounds the two beans inside. First the cherry is
run through a machine with rough rollers to break up and loosen the outer skin.
After that it is soaked it in water for 8-12 hours. This must be done as soon
as possible following harvest, before the cherry begins to ferment.
Fermentation produces a strong, unpleasant flavor that will contaminate not
only the beans within the fermented cherry, but all other beans with which the
contaminated ones may be mixed later.
The beans, which at this point have a
moisture content of approximately 27%, are then rinsed in fresh water and
immediately dried. Drying may be done using with the "modern"
rotating hot drum dryer method that takes only a few hours and works well if
done properly by a skilled operator. Many farmers still prefer to use the
traditional slower sun drying methods, which take about six to eight days,
depending on the weather. For this older method, the beans are spread out on a
flat surface exposed to sun and breezes. The floors, generally, are covered
with a rolling roof, known by its Japanese name, "hoshidana," that is
pushed into place to shelter the beans during the afternoon rains and at night.
It's generally considered that sun drying will produce better coffee.
Dry coffee beans, having an 8% moisture
content, are taken to the "green mill". There they go through two
"hullers" that remove the parchment and polish the beans. The beans
are then ready for sorting into quality grades. This is accomplished,
primarily, with a set of screens that separates the beans by size and shape,
and a vibrating table that uses gravity to isolate defective beans. The graded
unroasted, or "green," coffee is bagged and ready for sale on the
world market. Coffee can be stored in its green state for long periods of time.
ROASTING:
Roasting is an art that requires both skill and quality equipment. A typical
Kona roasting machine is propane gas-heated with an electrically driven drum.
It takes approximately fifteen minutes to roast a batch of coffee weighing
twenty to twenty-five pounds; exact roasting time depends on a number of
factors, including moisture content, weight, grade and quality of the beans,
desired darkness of roast, and weather conditions. Darker roasts require higher
temperature and longer roasting time. The master roaster must consider the
roasting temperature and time, as well as the appearance, smell, and even the
sound made by the beans. The beans make a distinct popping sound when they
reach a particular stage of roast.
The meticulous attention to detail, dedication, and pride of the Kona coffee
farmers and processors you encounter here at the HI-Trade site ensure that you
are purchasing the finest, purest, and freshest, gourmet Kona coffee available.
*The text on this page was taken from information provided by Lee Sugai.
*Pictures from Greenwell Farms and Keokea Farms
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