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 - Dark Roast
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Kona Classic — Dark Roast
A traditional 100% Kona coffee roasted darker for depth, smoothness, and a low-acid finish.
Origin: North Kona, Hawai‘i
Roast: Dark
Variety: Typica and K7
Flavor: Dark chocolate, cherry, toasted coconut
Body: Full, smooth
Acidity: Low
Overview
Kona Classic Dark Roast presents a richer, more grounded expression of 100% Kona coffee. Roasted beyond our medium profile, this coffee emphasizes body and warmth while preserving the natural sweetness that defines Kona-grown coffees.
Origin
Grown on the volcanic slopes of Hualalai in North Kona at elevations ranging from approximately 2,000 to 2,500 feet, these coffees benefit from mineral-rich soils, warm mornings, and cooling afternoon cloud cover. This environment promotes even cherry maturation—an ideal foundation for darker roasts that remain smooth rather than sharp or bitter.
Roast Style & Intent
This is a true dark roast, developed intentionally for richness and mouthfeel.
Extended roast development brings forward chocolate depth and toasted sugars while carefully avoiding smoky or ashy flavors. The goal is a bold cup that remains clean, balanced, and distinctly Kona.
Cup Profile
Expect a full-bodied cup with flavors of dark chocolate, ripe cherry, and toasted coconut. Acidity is low, and the finish is round, smooth, and gently sweet.
Compared to Kona Classic Medium, this roast sacrifices brightness in favor of depth and comfort.
Brewing Recommendations
Well suited for:
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Drip coffee
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French press
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Espresso-style brewing
Performs especially well for those who enjoy a stronger cup or add milk, while remaining balanced when brewed black.
Who This Coffee Is For
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Dark roast drinkers seeking a smooth, premium Kona
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Those who prefer low acidity and fuller body
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Fans of classic, comforting coffee profiles
Not recommended for those seeking bright acidity or floral aromatics.
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Same bullets across Kona pages (minor phrasing tweaks ok)
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
Coffees selected from farms between approximately 1,600 and 2,500 feet, where cooler conditions promote slower cherry maturation, greater sweetness, and complexity. -
Freshly Roasted in Small Batches
Roasted to order to preserve aromatics, sweetness, and clarity. -
Carefully Sorted for Quality
Machine and hand sorting remove defects before and after roasting, ensuring a clean, balanced cup. -
Roasted for Expression, Not Volume
Each Kona coffee is roasted with a specific flavor goal in mind—rather than a one-profile-fits-all approach.
Explore Our Kona Coffees
Looking for a different expression of Kona coffee?
View all Kona coffees → Kona Collection
Prefer a lighter or more aromatic profile?
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Kona Classic Medium Roast — brighter, balanced, and smooth
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Kona Tropical Punch — Washed Light Roast — Vibrant and Fruit forward.
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.
