Kona Coffee | Know the Facts about coffee

	World Coffee Facts
	Table of Contents
	Coffee Tasting Terminology
	Know the Facts About Kona Coffee
	Terms Describing Coffees and Liquors
	Quick Guide to Coffee Varieties
	The Americas
	Asian Family
	African Family
Coffee Tasting Terminology

Know The Kona Coffee Grades
Kona Coffee is graded for perfection by color, size and density as follows:

Top Grades	Extra Fancy & Fancy: These beans are sold as high quality Kona to world coffee connoisseurs who appreciate the subtleties of quality.
Middle Grade	#1:These are usually sold as high grade restaurant Kona coffee for blends and the bulk bean market.
Low Grade	Prime or Premium: These are usually sold in grocery stores and tourist shops as well as in flavored Kona coffees.
Lowest Grade	Hawaii #3: These are usually sold for espresso roasting because dark roasting can mask the inferior grades, and decafs can add coffee flavor back after the decaf process.
Know The Facts About Kona Coffee	Fancy Roast is not the same as Fancy Grade. Fancy Grade refers to the quality of the bean. Fancy Roast is a marketing gimmick. Premium or Prime sounds like high grade, but is really a lower grade coffee in Kona. Within the State of Hawaii, a "Kona Blend" is legally supposed to contain 10% Kona beans, but if beans are roasted outside Hawaii, a Kona Blend can be as little as 3% Kona grown beans! Another disturbing fact savvy coffee buyers need to know in attempting to buy quality beans is that the international coffee laws now state that where a coffee is roasted is where it is from...so that coffee grown in one country, say Indonesia, can be imported to another country, like Colombia, and if roasted there, can legally be labeled as 100% Colombian!

Coffee connoisseurs agree that a Kona Blend must have at least 20% Kona Coffee blossum: Kona coffee flowers in March and April beans to influence the flavor, so if there is less than 20%, you probably can't even taste the Kona, which is why many people who buy the common Kona Blends don't really know the pleasure or the real, quality Kona taste. That's not the case with Keopu Mauka Lani's Blend. We use much more than 20% because we know it makes a difference in the quality of enjoyment. And the balance is also high grade Arabica from special regions that blend well with Kona's fancy flavor.

Kona is not synonymous with Hawaiian. Although coffee is now being cultivated on other Hawaiian Islands, The Big Island's Kona Coffee District has long been revered by coffee connoisseurs as some of the finest in the world! It's like comparing Napa, the heart of the Wine Country with the rest of California. Napa, like Kona, has unique soil and climate benefits that have long been recognized by connoisseurs who can taste difference.

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Terms Describing Coffees and Liquors

Acidy	A sharp and pleasing characteristic particularly strong with certain origins. As opposed to a caustic over-fermented sour or bitter flavor.
Body	A strong, full, and pleasant characteristic as opposed to being thin (not necessarily with acid).
Bitter	Usually caused by over-roasting.
Coarse	A raspy, harsh flavor, lacking in finesse.
Erpsig	A potato flavor.
Earthy	A wet-earth flavor after storage with damaged coffees.
Fine	A coffee with distinct quality characteristics such as acid, body, etc.
Fiery	A bitter charcoal taste generally due to over-roasting.
Flat	A lifeless coffee lacking in any acidity.
Full	A prefix to good characteristics such as acid and body, to indicate a strong character.
Fruity	A strong over-ripe characteristic prevalent in coffees left too long in the cherry.
Grassy	A greenish grassy, or greenish flavor particularly strong with early crop Arabicas which have been picked prematurely.
Harsh	A hard, raspy, often caustic, flavor sometimes described as Rioy.
Mellow	A rounded and smooth taste, but lacking in acidity.
Muddy	A dull indistinct and thick flavor. This can be due to grounds being agitated.
Musty	A flavor often due to poor storage, especially with Robustas. Can be due to lack of sufficient drying and aging, or over-heating. Mustiness due to age is not undesirable.
Neutral	An insignificant liquor, not distinct in any powerful main flavors. Usually a good blender.
Nutty	This aroma is reminiscent of the odor and flavor of fresh nuts (distinct from rancid nuts) and not of bitter almonds.
Point	A fine acidy sharpness.
Rank	A dirty unpleasant flavor due mainly to contamination or over-fermentation.
Rich	An overall lively and full-bodied flavor.
Rubbery	Mainly prevalent in Robustas, especially Indonesians.
Smooth	A full-body, but low-acid coffee.
Soft	A well-rounded flavor, lacking any harshness or acidity.
Sour	A sharp excessively acidic, biting flavor.
Sweet	A nice, clean, soft coffee free of any harshness.
Thin	A flat, lifeless coffee lacking any body or acidity that can be caused if it is under-brewed.
Wild	A gamy flavor often in Ethiopian coffees.
Winey	A rich, rounded, full-body coffee with a smoothness characteristic of well matured red wine. A flavor which is prevalent with Columbians.
Woody	A hard, wood-like flavor often due to old coffee which has been stored too long as a green bean.

Quick Guide to Coffee Varieties

Coffee is cultivated worldwide in the warm, wet belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Worldwide we turn nearly 5 million tons of coffee beans into espresso, lattes and steaming hot cups of brew each year.
Here are the major coffee growing areas around the world:

The Americas: Medium body, lively acidity, floral flavors, good balance.

Brazil

Mostly neutral coffee for blending purposes, but better coffees have more distinctive qualities of low acidity, clove and allspice aromas.

Columbia

Good acidity, medium body, caramelly aroma, consistent quality.

Costa Rica

Well balanced and sweetly smooth.

Cuba

Flat, suitable for dark roasts.

El Salvado

Mostly used in blends, particularly to add interest to espressos.

Guatemala

Acid, heavy body, well balanced, has subtle smokiness.

Tahiti

Casually grown and variable in quality; rarely seen.

Hawaii

Kona plantations started with imported Central American coffee plants with similar Central American flavors�medium body, good acidity, well balanced, smooth. Since early �90s other Hawaiian Islands have planted mostly the Tipica strain, considered a lesser quality bush type to allow large acre farms to use machinery to pick.

Honduras

Blending coffee.

Jamaican

Famous for coffee from the Blue Mountain plantation, which is possibly the most over-rated � and certainly the most falsified � in the world.

Mexico

Medium acidity, smooth body, hazelnut aroma.

Nicaragua

Mostly a blending coffee, but with some distinctive plantations.

Panama

Heavy body, good acidity, mild flavor.

Venezuela

Blending coffee.

Asian Family: Generally full body, low acidity, earthy and exotic flavors.

Vietnam	Low quality.
India	Very low acidity, cinnamon and cedar aroma.
Java	Spicy and strong flavor.
Sumatra	Very full body, earthy and even musty quality.
Papua New Guinea	Rich flavor, good balance.

African Family: Medium-full body, lively acidity, winy and floral flavors.

Ethiopia	Inconsistent quality because beans are still gathered from wild trees; also much falsification of the premium Harrar designation; wild, earthy and spicy flavors.
Kenya	Intense, acidic, floral and winy.
Yemen	Bitter, winy, cherry and incense aromas, most of what is sold as Yemen is actually Ethiopian.
Zaire	Mostly robustas, some well-balanced Arabica.
Zambia	like Kenya but with more body and wininess.

Section on Coffee Varieties: Thanks to PriceCostco Connection, Feb. �95

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