Kona Coffee, Kona, Big Island, Hawaii - Things to See and Do

What to see and do at Kona Coffee, Kona, Big Island, Hawaii

Visited December 2023

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Kona Coffee grrown on the Big Island, Hawaii is one of the most expensive coffees in the world

Kona coffee is the market name for Coffee arabica which is grown on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the Kona region of the Big Island of Hawaii. The Kona Coffee Belt is located on the slopes of the Hualalai and Mauna Loa volcanoes, ranging from 500 to 3200 feet above sea level. Only coffee grown in the Kona Coffee Belt can be labeled as Kona coffee.

In 1899, the world coffee market crash and this caused plantation owners to lease their land to their workers. These farms have an average size of less than 5 acres. As a result, there are now approximately 800 Kona coffee farms in the Kona Coffee Belt. In 1997, the total Kona coffee area was 2,290 acres and produced just over two million pounds of coffee. By contrast, Kuiai Coffee Company on the islaand of Kuiai is the largest coffee plantation in the United States wth 4 million coffee trees on 3,100 acres of land.

We visited the Kona Coffee Belt on 122/20/2023 and while we were there, we visited the 20 acre Kona Joe coffee farm. While there, we sampled the coffee and toured the processing and roasting operation and viewed the coffee plants. Kona Joe's coffee farm is unique in that they patented a method to grow their coffee on trellises.

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