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Kona, Kona, Kona

© Katherine Austinson

Let's explore KONA coffee. KONA coffee is grown on the western Kona Coast of Hawaii in rich volcanic soil. Take Peet's Coffee, for example. "Peet's KONA is mild and smooth with sweet flavors and is available to order beginning February 5," says Peet's Monthly Newsletter. They go on to explain that they have searched long and hard for certified KONA coffee. "Several years ago, one unscrupulous company substituted lower cost Central American coffee for expensive Kona, and bilked many customers. The Kona industry is still recovering, but the state did implement a law that now required all Kona coffee to be inspected, graded and certified as true to the origin."

Other companies also roast and sell Kona coffee. I have mentioned some of these roasters previous articles. As always, take my articles as only a steering mechanism toward broader coffee sources for your daily cup o' joe. Click over to Badasscoffee.com, named because "The native people of Kona Hawaii remember the days of the "Bad Ass Ones." The bellows of the donkeys could be heard echoing through the mountains as they hauled the heavy loads of coffee up and down the mountain side. In honor of these hard working donkeys, we named our coffee company. The legend of the Kona Nightingale lives on right here at The Bad Ass Coffee Company."

Bad Ass Coffee Company was started on the Big Island of Hawaii in July of 1989 and has become one of the largest sellers of Kona coffee in the world. In 1995, Michael Bilanzich of Salt Lake City, Utah purchased Royal Aloha Coffee, Tea & Spice Company and the Bad Ass Coffee Company. He opened the first store in Salt Lake City in May 1995 at 3530 South State Street, and a second in July 1995. They are continuing to grow with numerous shops in Hawaii and throughout the continental United States and Canada. Their website offers updates on product information, online catalog purchasing, current store locations as well as information on franchising. They describe their coffe-growing region in this way:

"The Kona Coffee Belt is sparsely populated and home to many immigrants, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Samoans and "Haoles", the term used to refer to Caucasians with roots deep in Hawaiian soil, all third and fourth generation coffee farmers with extraordinary stories. It seems among the residents, no matter their ethnic origins, they all know each other and work together in perfect harmony, sharing one common bond, their passion for Kona Coffee. For the farmers it is more than coffee, it is a way of life. The Aloha Spirit is captured in the passion for meticulous painstaking work, growing, cultivating and processing Kona Coffee. The Kona Coffee belt, marked 180 on the highway map, is home to more than 500 farms, most of which are 3 to 5 acres with modest facilities and equipment. These farms total approximately 2000 acres of planted coffee which annually yields 2 million pounds of beans. Brazil, on the other hand, accounts for more than 1 billion pounds of beans per year."

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