Kona Coffee Country

The Kona belt is about thirty kilometres long and only a couple wide, on volcanic slopes between roughly 200 and 800 metres, and the pattern of sunny mornings, afternoon cloud and mild nights is what growers credit for the crop. Farms are unusually small - many under two hectares, a legacy of the plantation system breaking up into family leases - and cherries are picked by hand over several passes because they do not ripen together. It is the best known of the handful of commercially significant coffee districts in the United States, nearly all of them in Hawaii. Labelling is the thing to watch: Hawaii law has allowed blends containing as little as ten percent Kona to be sold as Kona blend, which is why single-estate matters here.

What you actually see

• A belt about thirty kilometres long - and only a couple wide.
• Very small family farms - many under two hectares.
• Hand picking over several passes - cherries ripen unevenly.
• Blend labelling to watch - ten percent has been enough to say Kona.

When to go

August to January for picking and processing. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Prices are high and justified by tiny volumes and hand labour. Farm tours vary from serious to a shop with a sign. Coffee borer beetle and leaf rust have hit growers hard. Blends labelled Kona may contain very little.

Nearby

Kailua-Kona is north; Kealakekua Bay is on the coast below.