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 Geisha Peaberry
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Kona Geisha Peaberry — Washed & Anaerobic Light Roast
A rare Kona Geisha peaberry from Noelani Farm, produced in extremely small volume and roasted to preserve clarity, florality, and sweetness.
This lot combines two complementary washed-style processes—Rosé Washed and anaerobic washed with yeast inoculation—resulting in a coffee that is refined and expressive, with layered fruit and floral character grounded by structure and balance.
Origin
Farm: Noelani Farm
Region: North Kona, Hawai‘i
Elevation: ~2,500 ft
Variety: Geisha (Peaberry separation)
Noelani Farm sits high above Hōlualoa in the upper elevations of Kona, where cooler temperatures and persistent cloud cover slow cherry maturation. These conditions mirror aspects of Panama’s Boquete region, allowing the Geisha variety to develop its signature aromatic complexity—while still expressing Kona’s softer acidity and tropical sweetness.
Geisha trees were first planted at Noelani in 2021. First harvests began in 2023–2024, harvest volumes remained extremely limited, making this peaberry selection especially scarce.
Process & Composition
This is not a single-process coffee, and that distinction matters.
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Primary component: Anaerobic washed, yeast-inoculated
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Secondary component: Rosé washed (small percentage)
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Fermentation: Controlled, multi-stage
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Drying: Carefully dried with dehumidifying drying machines.
The anaerobic washed portion provides structure, sweetness, and depth.
The Rosé washed component contributes lift—soft florals and gentle red fruit.
Blended at the green stage, the goal is balance rather than overt fermentation character. The cup remains clean and transparent, with enhanced aromatic range rather than exaggerated funk.
About the Geisha Variety
Geisha is one of the world’s most distinctive coffee varieties, prized for its aromatic intensity, floral character, and refined sweetness. Unlike traditional Kona varieties, Geisha produces a lighter-bodied cup with elevated aromatics and layered fruit notes rather than deep, roast-driven flavors.
When grown at high elevation and handled with precision, Geisha expresses remarkable clarity and elegance—qualities that make it rare, demanding to produce, and highly sought after.
Cup Profile
Aromatic: lychee, rose petal, strawberry
Flavor: watermelon, raspberry, pink citrus, honey
Finish: clean, silky, sweet and tea-like
This coffee leans elegant rather than explosive. Compared to Panama Geisha, acidity is softer and more rounded; compared to classic Kona, aromatics are significantly elevated.
Roast Style
Light roast, developed for clarity and sweetness.
We roast this coffee to preserve its floral top notes and refined texture, avoiding roast-driven flavors that would obscure the subtleties created in fermentation.
Brewing Recommendations
Best results with:
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Pour-over (V60, Kalita, Origami)
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Gentle immersion (Clever, Hario Switch)
Use softer water and slightly cooler brew temperatures to highlight florals and avoid sharpening acidity.
Who This Coffee Is For
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Geisha drinkers looking to explore Hawai‘i terroir
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Kona drinkers ready for a more aromatic, expressive cup
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Those who value elegance and balance over intensity
This is not a heavy or bold coffee. If you prefer deep roast flavors or pronounced chocolate notes, this will not be the right choice.
Scarcity
Geisha is grown on only a handful of farms in Kona. Noelani farm has just 1 acre dedicated to this variety producing only a few hundred pounds each year. Peaberry comprises only 5% of the beans. This lot of Peaberry from Fall 2025 harvests amounted to just 10lb.
Once sold out, this coffee will not be available again until the next harvest—if yields allow.
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.
