Kona Coffee FAQs-Roasting, Sourcing, and Shipping
Find answers to common questions about our 100% Kona coffees, roasting schedule, shipping times, and sourcing practices.
Kona Classic Medium Roast | 100% Kona Coffee from Hawai‘i
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Kona Classic — Medium Roast
A balanced, smooth expression of 100% Kona coffee, roasted for sweetness, clarity, and everyday drinkability.
Origin: North Kona, Hawai‘i
Roast: Medium
Variety: Traditional Kona cultivars
Flavor: Toasted macadamia, milk chocolate, brown sugar
Body: Smooth, medium
Acidity: Balanced
Coffee Review Score: 95 Points
Overview
Kona Classic Medium is our most approachable expression of 100% Kona coffee. Crafted for balance and refinement, it highlights Kona’s natural sweetness and clarity without leaning too bright or too heavy.
This is a versatile, polished cup designed to be enjoyed daily—equally comfortable as a first introduction to Kona or a dependable staple for longtime fans.
Origin
Grown on the high-elevation slopes above Hōlualoa in North Kona, this coffee develops slowly in mineral-rich volcanic soil under warm mornings and cooling afternoon cloud cover. These conditions promote even cherry maturation and the clean, sweet profile that has defined Kona coffee for generations.
Roast Style & Intent
This medium roast is developed to emphasize balance rather than intensity.
We roast to preserve sweetness and structure, allowing nutty and chocolate tones to come forward while maintaining a smooth finish and gentle acidity. The goal is harmony—nothing sharp, nothing overpowering.
Cup Profile
Expect a smooth, balanced cup with flavors of toasted macadamia, milk chocolate, and brown sugar. Acidity is refined and supportive, with a clean, lightly sweet finish.
Compared to our Kona Classic Dark Roast, this version offers more brightness and clarity, with a lighter mouthfeel and greater versatility.
Acclaim
In 2025, Coffee Review awarded Kona Classic Medium 95 points, citing its clarity, harmony, and polished structure—placing it among the highest-rated Kona medium roasts available.
Brewing Recommendations
Excellent for:
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Pour-over (maximum clarity and sweetness)
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Auto-drip (consistent everyday cup)
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French press (slightly fuller body, softer sweetness)
Use a medium grind, filtered water, and brew temperatures around 201–203°F for best results.
Who This Coffee Is For
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Those seeking a smooth, balanced Kona coffee
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Drinkers who value sweetness over intensity
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An elegant, everyday cup with broad appeal
If you prefer deeper roast flavors or very low acidity, consider Kona Classic Dark Roast instead.
Why Our Kona Coffees
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100% Kona Coffee
Sourced exclusively from Kona farms on Hawai‘i’s Big Island—never blended. -
High-Elevation Growing
Selected from farms between approximately 1,500 and 2,500 feet, promoting sweetness and balance. -
Freshly Roasted in Small Batches
Roasted to order to preserve flavor and aroma. -
Carefully Sorted for Quality
Machine and hand sorting remove defects before roasting for a clean cup. -
Roasted for Expression
Each Kona coffee is roasted to highlight its natural strengths rather than a generic profile.
Explore Our Kona Coffees
Looking for a different expression of Kona coffee? Explore more 100% Kona coffees in our Kona Coffee Collection.
Prefer a bolder, low-acid cup?
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Kona Classic Dark Roast — deeper, richer, and full-bodied
Looking for something brighter and more expressive?
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Kona Tropical Punch — Light Roast — fruit-forward and vibrant
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.
