The Drink: 100% Kona From Best Thing To Happen To Coffee
Type: Ground
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cups. I could drink this coffee all day long.
When I think Hawaii, I think sunny beaches, surfing on big waves and luaus, but it’s also known for Kona, one of the best coffee regions in the world.
Hawaii is home to the only coffee grown within the United States. Kona is grown on the Big Island and only coffee grown in the Kona districts can legally have the name. Only 1,500 acres of small, mostly family owned farms grow this rare coffee. If you want to try some, make sure you buy 100% Kona, it’s more expensive than most coffee, around twenty dollars per pound, but you’ll be getting the real thing.
The coffee is so rare and in such demand that there have been cases of fraud and imitations. Watch out for bags with the names Roast and Style, because those are sometimes impostors with zero percent actual Kona coffee. There’s also one called Blend, which contains only up to ten percent, while the other ninety percent is often cheaper, imported beans.
Traditionally, Kona has a bright cup, well balanced with a smooth quality and buttery characteristics. It’s described as a rich, traditional coffee smell with hints of cinnamon and cloves.
Some coffee “experts” consider it over rated and over priced, because they believe that people associate it more with the romance of Hawaii than the quality of the taste, but after trying 100% Kona from Best Thing To Happen To Coffee, I can say it’s worth every penny.
The Best Thing To Happen To Coffee is Michigan based coffee company that doesn’t sell their coffee in stores, instead they ship it directly to your door to ensure freshness. This week, a sample of their 100% Kona arrived at my door.
Their Kona had a slightly nutty taste that hit my tongue right away, then transformed into a smoother more balanced flavor explosion. There were hints of cinnamon and a buttery taste. Even in ground form, it was bursting with flavor.
They use a unique roasting process, in which the coffee beans don’t ever touch the hot surface directly, the difference which can be tasted.
The only thing that would’ve been better, would’ve been drinking it in Hawaii. Overall, this gets a four out of five rating.
Visit Best Thing To Happen To Coffee to try this or any of their other coffees. Right now their 100% Kona is only sale for $14.99, normally $20.
UPDATE: 7-22-09
There was a typo on The Best Thing To Happen To Coffee website that said the coffee was from Kaui. However, I confirmed with the owner that it is indeed grown in the Kona district on the island of Hawaii.
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Sun Down In Kona photo by Erik Charlton.
{ 8 comments }
Good point on making sure you get the actual 100% Kona-it’s unfortunate, but many people are victims of fraud in many industries.
It’s chilly and rainy in NH right now, so your post is definitely making me dream of Hawaii…
I’ve seen all sorts of fake Konas before, had no idea what I was looking at until I did a little research.
Please send some of the chilly weather down here! I’d love to be able to turn off my AC.
I just checked that site and realized they’re selling Kuai coffee as opposed to Konas.
But why are they saying it’s 100% Kona, when the Kona coffee belt is located on the ‘Big Island’ of Hawaii? Kuai is no where near Kona (two separate places), and Kuai coffee is machine-picked on massive plantations and a lot cheaper than handpicked Konas.
Thanks Demi,
I’m JT the owner of the coffee company.
You are 100% right but this was a Typo on my services part Confusing the 100 % Kona beans With a Completly seperate bean that is in the Hawaiian Blend that has beans grown in Kuai.
The 100 % Kona is in fact Grown on a small family farm that i was lucky enough to have met in person and Pick my very first Coffee Bean ..
Again i do apologize for my error.
I love Kona Coffee! I used to live on Maui and we would always have it in the morning. My sister (who lives there) ships some over every once in a while! But you’re right it’s even better when drinking it in Hawaii
Great site BTW!
Bethany, Thank you for the compliment and for stopping by and leaving a comment. I wish I had a sister that lived there and could ship me coffee directly from there. However, I do have a brother that lives in Seattle, so that’s not bad for coffee either.
Mike,
Great article about Kona coffee, and especially the need to look for 100% Kona and watch out for fraud — that’s far too big a problem in our industry. But don’t you think it’s strange to buy Kona coffee from a roaster in Michigan?
We are a 100% Kona coffee retailer located in Maui, and we are in direct contact with farmers on all the Hawaiian islands. We also freshly roast our coffee in small batches and ship it directly to the customer in bags with one-way valves to ensure maximum freshness. (PS – The best way to keep coffee fresh is to order it whole bean and grind only what you need at the time you’re going to use it.)
If your readers really want a taste of the islands, we’re here to let them know they can get their coffee straight from the source by visiting http://www.mauicoffee.com.
Mike, thanks for all the informative articles and for promoting the enjoyment of coffee!
Thanks for stopping by. It’s my pleasure writing the articles, I couldn’t imagine writing about anything else.
I suppose it is kind of weird to buy Kona coffee roasted in Michigan, but I’ve had great coffees roasted all over the country. I think the location of the roaster isn’t as important as other factors like the quality of the roasting job, how fresh it is, etc.
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