Buy Kona Coffee

Although there are many wonderful coffee beans on the market, one that is always a favorite is Kona.  Many people compare Kona coffee as a vintage, fine wine.  This coffee grows in Hawaii on Kona typical trees found on the side of a volcano.  To harvest the beans, workers hand prune and weed the trees, use a natural fertilizer, and then when the beans are fully ripe, hand pick each one.

Only the red berries of the Kona tree are picked, after which time they are laid out to dry naturally in the warm sun.  Although some companies will dry mill and roast using various types of commercial processes, many companies continue to mill and roast manually, which produces a much nicer coffee.  When you get ready to buy Kona coffee, you need to consider a number of factors to ensure you get the very best.

• Reputable Source – Make sure you buy Kona coffee from a reputable source.  For this, we recommend that you do a search for Kona coffee online and then spend some time browsing through the various websites, finding the ones that offer a full guarantee and do hand milling and roasting.
 
• Kona Estate Stamp – Another tip when you buy Kona coffee is to purchase only products with the 100% Kona Estate stamp, which means the coffee has been grown specifically to meet high standards so you end up with a rich cup of coffee in flavor and aroma.

• Organically Grown – Never buy Kona coffee that has been sprayed with chemicals to include pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides.  In addition to being unhealthy, these chemicals also alter the flavor of the coffee.  Instead, choose only organically grown coffee.

• Whole Beans versus Ground – Although it seems to make more sense to buy Kona coffee in the form of ground beans, we suggest you stick with the whole beans and then use a home coffee grinder but just for the amount needed.  The reason is that when beans are ground, the oils used to enhance the coffee’s flavor start to dry out, affecting the flavor and aroma of the coffee.

• Vacuum Packed Products – Today, grocery stores are filled with shelves of vacuum packed coffee.  However, the problem with this is that when coffee is fresh roasted, gasses are released.  Therefore, before the coffee can be packaged via vacuum packed, the coffee has to sit for awhile to allow the gasses to release.  As a result, the coffee loses some of its rich flavor.  The better option is to buy Kona coffee that comes in an air-lock package.

• Unopened Coffee – To keep coffee fresh, always place unopened bags in the freezer, not the refrigerator where the coffee can pick up other food flavors.  Storing coffee in the freezer allows the oils to stay fresh longer.  When you buy Kona coffee, you can take it directly home and keep it fresh for much longer in the freezer.

• Opened Coffee – After you buy Kona coffee and the package has been opened, you want to store in a dry place such as a pantry.  The goal here is to keep the coffee cool and away from light.  Typically, coffee that has been opened will last for approximately one month.