Kona Coffee FAQs-Roasting, Sourcing, and Shipping
Find answers to common questions about our 100% Kona coffees, roasting schedule, shipping times, and sourcing practices.
Puna District, Hawai‘i Island
A floral, fruit-lifted expression of Typica shaped by anaerobic fermentation and honey processing.
Origin: Puna District, Hawai‘i Island
Farm Location: Mountain View, Hawai‘i
Elevation: ~1,500 ft
Variety: Typica
Process: Anaerobic honey (yeast + lactic fermentation)
Roast: Light
Flavor: Rose, strawberry, lime, sugar cane
Body: Silky, rounded
Acidity: Bright, refined
This Typica from the Puna district offers a striking balance of florality, sweetness, and acidity—showcasing how careful fermentation and restrained roasting can elevate one of coffee’s most foundational varieties.
Anaerobic fermentation and honey processing add aromatic lift and texture without overwhelming the cup. The result is expressive yet composed: floral, gently fruit-forward, and exceptionally clean.
Grown in Mountain View at approximately 1,500 feet above sea level, this coffee comes from the lush, rain-fed landscape of Hawai‘i’s Puna district. Frequent cloud cover, volcanic soils, and consistent moisture create conditions that favor slow, even cherry development and high natural sweetness.
Puna’s environment yields coffees that are vibrant and aromatic, with a distinct sense of place—different from Kona or Ka‘ū, yet unmistakably Hawaiian.
This coffee underwent a carefully controlled anaerobic honey process:
Whole cherries fermented anaerobically for several days
Inoculated with selected yeast and lactic acid bacteria
Skins removed after fermentation
Dried with mucilage intact (honey process)
This approach enhances florality and fruit expression while maintaining structure and clarity. Fermentation character is present but measured—supporting the Typica’s inherent sweetness rather than dominating it.
Aromatic and elegant, the cup opens with rose and soft floral notes, followed by strawberry and lime. Underneath, sugar cane sweetness provides balance and length.
Acidity is bright but refined, carried by a smooth, rounded body and a clean, lightly sweet finish. This is a nuanced coffee that rewards attention without demanding it.
Roasted light to preserve aromatics, acidity, and transparency.
Development is restrained to avoid masking fermentation-derived nuance, allowing floral and citrus notes to remain vivid while keeping the cup composed and balanced.
In January 2026, Coffee Review awarded Puna Typica Anaerobic Honey 95 points, describing it as:
“Richly floral, delicately fruity. Magnolia, raspberry, sugarcane, lemon verbena, cocoa nib in aroma and cup. Juicy-bright, phosphoric acidity; viscous, syrupy mouthfeel. Focused, flavor-saturated finish.”
Best prepared as:
Pour-over (V60, Kalita) — highlights florals and acidity
Aeropress— clean, elegant presentation, fuller mouthfeel
Use filtered water (80-120ppm)
Drinkers who enjoy floral, lightly fruit-forward coffees
Fans of honey and anaerobic processes done with restraint
Those curious about Hawaiian coffee beyond Kona
If you prefer dark roasts or heavy, roast-driven profiles, this coffee may not be the right fit.
Kona Tropical Punch — vibrant, fermentation-driven fruit
Ka‘ū Classic Light Roast — bright, silky, and refined
Kona Classic Medium Roast — smooth, balanced, and timeless
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 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.
We roast and fulfill all of our coffee orders in Hilo, Hawai'i.
We roast in small batches using a Diedrich IR12 roasting machine.
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.
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.