Kona Coffee FAQs-Roasting, Sourcing, and Shipping
Find answers to common questions about our 100% Kona coffees, roasting schedule, shipping times, and sourcing practices.
Thailand Wiang Pa Po Dark Roast
Item is in stockHurry! Low inventoryItem is out of stock
Item is unavailable
DIRECT TRADE
Tasting Notes
Dark Chocolate, spice, and black cherry. Full bodied and balanced with soft fruit tones.
Background Info
Wiang Pa Pao Fully Washed is a project led by Jane Kittiratanapaiboon, a co-founder of Beanspire, in the Wiang Pa Pao district of Chiang Rai, Thailand. She controlled the process, cupped the coffee and collected the parchments from a wet mill nearby Beanspire's dry mill in Wiang Pa Pao.
The coffee industry in Thailand started out as an opium eradication project launched by the former King of Thailand. Compared to Myanmar and Laos, Thailand is much more successful in this endeavor. Most farmers (in fact much of the whole coffee industry) we work with are young, with an average age of 25-35 years old. This young movement is a result of the fact that our country is much more developed than most coffee origins. It is very easy to get to coffee farms in Thailand. In Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, which are two of the largest coffee producing provinces in Thailand, you can get to a farm in 45 mins from the airport. Thailand has a coffee system that works, relatively to other origins. Children of farmers are coming back to farms. There is also a vibrant local specialty and coffee culture that helps support the farmers at an acceptable price. It is a good success story for using coffee as an agent of change and sustainability.
This coffee went through a 12-24 hrs wet fermentation, depending on the weather. The pulped coffee was when soaked in fresh water for 12 more hours, then cleaned to completely remove the mucilage. After that, they dried their coffee on bamboo raised beds and greenhouses for 15-20 days. In terms of green preparation, the coffee went through a destoner, huller, size grader, density table and ended with handsorting. The green passed through the density table multiple times. We shipped coffee in a triple layered bag, which includes a cotton bag in the outer layer, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) in the middle layer and Grain Pro in the innermost layer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a dark roast coffee?
Dark roast coffee refers to coffee beans that have been roasted for a longer duration. This results in a darker, oilier appearance and a fuller, bolder flavor. Dark roasts often have notes of chocolate or toasted nuts, and our Thailand Wiang Pa Pao Dark Roast is a splendid example of this rich, robust character.
Is dark roast coffee stronger?
In terms of flavor and body, dark roast coffee is often perceived as stronger due to its bolder, fuller taste and aroma. However, it's important to note that roasting process doesn't necessarily affect the caffeine content significantly. The difference in caffeine content between light and dark roasts is typically negligible.
What does washed coffee taste like?
Washed coffee, also known as wet-processed coffee, is known for its bright, clear flavors and high acidity. The process of washing the coffee cherries before drying tends to highlight the coffee's inherent flavor characteristics, often leading to a cleaner taste profile. With our Thailand Wiang Pa Pao Dark Roast, you can expect a smooth, balanced taste with noticeable clarity.
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
We roast and fulfill all of our coffee orders in Hilo, Hawai'i.
-
We roast in small batches using a Diedrich IR12 roasting machine.
Satisfaction Guaranteed
-
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.
-
We roast and ship on Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
Coffees
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
