Kona Coffee FAQs-Roasting, Sourcing, and Shipping
Find answers to common questions about our 100% Kona coffees, roasting schedule, shipping times, and sourcing practices.
Panama Geisha Vuelta DRD Natural -HOLIDAY PRE-ORDER
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Panama Geisha Vuelta Natural — Holiday Pre-Order
Roasting December 15 • Elida Estate – Boquete, Panama • Light Roast
A Rare Holiday Offering
Each holiday season we seek coffees that express the purest beauty of terroir.
From the storied slopes of Elida Estate in Boquete comes this remarkable Geisha Vuelta Natural (Dark Room Dried)—a small, custom-prepared lot inspired by the coffee that won 1st place (95.13 pts) at the 2024 Best of Panama competition.
Only 10 kg available.
Character & Style — Ethereal, Refined, Radiant
Despite its natural processing, Vuelta DRD captures the crystalline, tea-like grace of a washed Geisha.
Expect bergamot, jasmine, chamomile, and papaya, balanced by a luminous, champagne-like acidity and a silken mouthfeel.
The finish lingers with floral sweetness and tropical depth — a sensory hallmark of the world’s most celebrated coffee variety.
Coffee Review 97 Points
“Richly aromatic, complex, multi-layered. Star jasmine, blood orange, cocoa nib, lychee, marjoram in aroma and cup.
Vibrant, sparkling (phosphoric) acidity; elegant, silky-smooth mouthfeel. Long, flavor-saturated finish.”
Origin — Elida Estate, Boquete, Panama
Perched between 1920 – 1960 m in the Barú Volcano National Park, Elida Estate is among the highest farms in Panama and one of the most biodiverse coffee habitats on Earth.
For over a century, the Lamastus Family has cultivated Arabica here under pristine conditions: rich volcanic soils, cool mists, and shaded forest canopy.
The Vuelta lot, Elida’s highest fully productive block, yields cherries of extraordinary density and aromatic potential — a terroir that defines modern Panamanian Geisha.
Craft & Process — Dark Room Dried Natural
This micro-lot undergoes a three-day anaerobic fermentation in sealed tanks, then dries in a light-free, climate-controlled room (DRD).
By eliminating UV exposure and stabilizing humidity and temperature, the process preserves fragile aromatic compounds — yielding a cup that is vibrant, perfumed, and remarkably pure.
Legacy & Lineage
The Lamastus Family began coffee cultivation here in 1918 under Kentucky-born pioneer Robert Lamastus, whose descendants have elevated Elida Estate into one of the most decorated farms in the world.
Generations later, their pursuit of precision and ecological harmony continues to produce coffees that set global benchmarks for Geisha expression.
Brewing Notes
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Roast: Light •
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Best for: Pour-over, Aeropress, or cupping evaluation
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Water temp: 95 °C (203 °F)
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Ratio: 1 : 16 (18 g to 288 g water)
Create Your Paradise
Offered only once per year in extremely limited quantity.
Each bag embodies the culmination of Panama’s highest terroir, meticulous craft, and one family’s devotion to excellence.
Cultivated with intention. Roasted for your holiday ritual.
Explore More Pinnacle Coffees
What Is 100% Kona Coffee?
100% Kona coffee refers to coffee grown exclusively in the Kona district of Hawai‘i Island — a small, volcanic region
along the western slopes of Hualālai and Mauna Loa. The combination of mineral-rich soil, afternoon cloud cover, and gentle trade winds produces one of the world’s most distinctive coffee terroirs.
To be labeled “100% Kona Coffee,” every bean must be grown within the Kona district and meet strict Hawai‘i grading quality standards. Kona coffee can be made from different arabica varieties, but Kona Typica — a heirloom lineage — remains the region’s most common and traditional cultivar.
If you’d like to explore more Kona coffees, you can browse the full collection here: Browse the Kona Coffee Collection .
About Kona Coffee
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Kona coffee grows on the volcanic slopes of Hawai‘i Island, where mineral-rich soil, afternoon cloud cover, and slow cherry maturation create a naturally sweet and balanced cup. Our Kona Classic Medium is sourced from high-elevation farms and hand-harvested for clarity, smoothness, and elegant sweetness.
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Yes — this roast is Authentic Kona coffee made exclusively from North Kona district-grown coffees, never blended. Our Kona coffees comes from small farms at the highest altitudes in the region.
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Medium roasts highlight Kona’s signature profile: gentle sweetness, soft citrus, toasted almond, and milk chocolate. The result is a balanced, approachable cup ideal for everyday brewing.
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This coffee shines in pour-over, drip, and French press. Use filtered water just off the boil and a medium grind for maximum clarity and sweetness. If you are looking for a Hawaiian coffee for espresso use we recommend our Hawai‘i Island Blend
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Kona is the highest labor cost coffee region in the world. Wages for farm workers here are 15-20x higher than almost all other coffee producing countries. Limited and expensive land, hand-picking, and high production costs create a naturally small supply each year — especially from high-elevation farms like those we partner with.
Company & Facility
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We roast and fulfill all of our coffee orders in Hilo, Hawai'i.
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We roast in small batches using a Diedrich IR12 roasting machine.
Satisfaction Guaranteed
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We source an array of the top specialty coffees worldwide that appeal to an array of different palates.
If at any point you have difficulty brewing, or just appreciating one of our roasted coffees, no problem. Shoot us an email within 5 days of receiving your coffee and we'll help you find the correct brew settings for your coffee, or give you a credit (minus actual shipping costs) on your next purchase. Yep, we're a Satisfaction Guarantee coffee company!
Please note, our Satisfaction Guarantee only applies to U.S. orders of roasted coffees, and you must contact us within 5 days of receiving the coffees. Credits do not include actual shipping fees, which may be different from posted shipping fees.
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We roast and ship on Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
Coffees
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Our commitment to you is to serve exceptional, fresh-roasted coffees. And part of being exceptional means roasting before the flavors inherent in the green bean begin to fade, which happens over time.
Like apples and pumpkins, coffee is a seasonal agricultural product and each country has a different harvesting cycle in which coffees are at their peak. If we were to insist on serving a single origin all year long, the flavors in that coffee would be noticeably better one half of the year over the other. So the reason you no longer see that coffee you loved is because the optimal season has passed. For more on seasonality in coffees, see this blog post here.
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Hopefully so. If it was a popular product or we receive customer requests, we will make every attempt to bring it back. However, please note that coffees from a certain producer may not taste the same year after year.
If you loved a coffee and no longer see it listed, shoot us an email and ask us what is similar. We’d be happy to provide a personal recommendation.
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We aim for balance and completeness along with differentiation and distinction. You shouldn't need to be a professional coffee taster to tell the coffees a part, so, when we’re selecting coffees, we want them to be distinct from each other.
We avoid ”one-trick pony” type coffees, such as Ethiopians with great aroma but no body or acidity, or coffees with good aroma and acidity but lacking sweetness. These elements, which are often reflections of the growing conditions, are harmonized through good roasting.
And, obviously, defects — even subtle defects — influence our selection. Since we live and work at origin, we’re sensitive to coffee defects like “past crop”, pulpy, and naturals that border on over-ferment. With naturals, we’ll only carry these when great examples are available.
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Our perspective on roasting is similar: we seek balance and distinction. To expect that a coffee is “best” when roasted to some pre-determined degree (i.e. only light roasting or only dark roasting) is analogous to thinking that each person would look best in the same outfit, or each coffee should be grown in the same way. We believe it’s our job to discover the roast degree which best highlights outstanding qualities in each coffee.
