The Grading Standards for Kona Coffee Beans
FIRST, A LITTLE HISTORY OF KONA COFFEE
What is Kona Coffee?
The Kona District, located on the west coast of Hawai'i island (Big Island of Hawaii), has produced coffee since the early 1800's. The term Kona name applies only to beans grown in North and South Kona Districts (Captain Cook, where we are located, is part of the South Kona District). Coffee that is grown elsewhere in Hawai'i, cannot be called Kona coffee.
The History of Kona Coffee is like a warm cup of smooth velvety coffee, strong and complex. Having the most humble origins, in the 1820s, the original coffee beans were introduced to Hawaii from Brazil. This new coffee type had made its appearance on the Big Island by 1828, through Reverend Samuel Ruggles, who took some of those seedlings and planted the first coffee trees in the Kona region later that year. Kona Coffee was born, although it was not until much later in that century that it became a consistent and worthwhile crop. It was grown on large plantations, but the crash in the world coffee market in 1899 caused plantation owners to have to lease out their land to their workers. Most of these workers were originally from Japan, and they worked their leased land parcels of between 5 and 12 acres as family concerns, producing large, quality coffee crops.
Kona coffee have experienced periods of expansion and contraction in response to major social and political events. Throughout it all, however, Kona coffee varieties quietly evolved and improved and the whole processing and brewing process has been refined through the years.
The tradition of running family farms has continued throughout Kona. The Japanese-origin families have been joined by Filipinos, mainland Americans, Europeans, and Latino families, like us.
KONA COFFEE GRADING SYSTEM
Kona Coffee beans are graded by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) based on a classification system that takes a number of factors into account: shape, bean’s size, cleanliness, moisture content, color, number of defects the beans contain, as well as aroma and flavor when it is brewed.
Type I Kona coffee beans:
In this category, there are five grades of Kona coffee beans:
Extra Fancy: These coffee beans are the largest size of the Kona coffee beans, with a fuller flavor. Its size will not pass through a 19/64″ round hole of the bean grading screen. The HDOA official allowance for defects is 8 full imperfections per 300 grams. These beans are about 20% of what a crop will produce.
Fancy: These are the second largest beans. Its size will not pass the 18/64” of the bean grading screen hole. The HDOA official allowance for defects is 12 full imperfections per 300 grams.
Number 1: Medium-sized coffee beans with a milder, following the Fancy grade. Its size will not pass the 16/64” of the bean grading screen hole. The HDOA official allowance for defects is 18 full imperfections per 300 grams.
Select: A smaller variety of beans sizes that allow up to 5% of defects.
Prime: The smallest of the beans that qualifies for being labeled as “Kona” coffee. These beans are allowed up to 20% of defects.
Type II Kona coffee beans:
Peaberry: This are a “pea” shaped beans that are very small in size, as a result of only one coffee bean developing within a coffee cherry but result in twice the flavor to create a very robust coffee. It is considered an anomaly, because typically two beans grow within the cherry, and it is very rare that a Peaberry bean is developed. Only about 3% to 4% of the whole crop are Peaberry.
As stablished by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA), there are two additional grades of Type I green coffee beans that cannot be labeled as Kona Coffee, due to factors like size and number of defects: The “Hawaii No. 3” or "X-3" and "OFF- Grade".
THEN, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ESTATE GRADE AND ESTATE GROWN?
The term Estate grown means that:
All the beans are all from the same farm, never mixed with beans of another farms, or with beans imported from another countries.
The farm manages all the stages of the production cycle.
Estate grade is a term commonly used within the Kona coffee growers to describe the coffee sold containing a mix of the top grades of Kona beans: usually Extra Fancy, Fancy and Number 1. This is not an official grade defined by the HDOA, the percentage of each grade of Kona beans is independently managed by every farm.
WHAT IS PRIVATE RESERVE KONA COFFEE?
Private Reserve is another “grade” or category widely employed by most Kona coffee farmers and sellers to offer a combination of the 100% Kona beans. Each farm offers its own combination and percentages of each grade/type of beans.
Our Private Reserve “grade” contains a combination of our Peaberry 100% with the Estate (Extra Fancy, Fancy + No.1 100% Kona). Our beans are graded and sorted according to the HDOA (Hawaii Department of Agriculture) standards. We go a step further; we also comply with the international standards stablished by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) for specialty coffee. This combination of beans produces a brew with a rich, delicate flavor that makes our "Private Reserve" beans very demanded.
ARE ALL KONA COFFEE BEANS SPECIALTY GRADE?
The answer is no. Coffees can be 100% Kona and not reach the standard to be ranked as specialty coffee. A big majority of Kona coffee producers comply only with the HDOA (Hawaii Department of Agriculture) Standards for Kona coffee listed above. Only a reduced group of farmers follow the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) standards. However, every year the number is increasing, which is great for the Kona coffee market, and overall, for all coffees produced in the state of Hawaii.
There are several quality levels of Kona coffee. A lot of people believe that all coffee coming from Kona has the same level of quality and same origin (100% Kona grown). Unfortunately, that is not true. Here is a brief description:
a) Highest quality: 100% Kona beans + Estate grown + HDOA standards + SCA specialty coffee standards (see definitions above). We are part of this group, and we keep working hard to continue to be.
b) Second highest: 100% Kona beans + Estate grown + HDOA standards.
c) Third level: 100% Kona beans from different farms. A coffee processor, roaster, broker, etc. purchases coffee from different “Kona” farms. The beans are still 100% Kona, but they come from different farms (growers), which might affect the quality of the beans due to several factors, including the level of ripeness of beans, farming and processing methods of each farm, storage method and temperature. The quality of the final product will be determined by quality controls/grading standards implemented by the processor. Some processors follow the HDOA and SCA standards; others don’t.
d) Fourth level: 10% Kona blend or 0% Kona: Yes, you are reading well, 0% Kona.
How is this possible? The current Hawaii law allows the selling of blends containing 10% Kona + 90% something else (another Hawaii region, another country), which is ok if the bags clearly describes that the coffee being sold is a 10% Kona blend. The challenge is that there is a lot, a lot of mislabeled bags available for sale in the market. Some have the 10% blend in small letters or have the word “Kona” combined with words like style, single origin, others. Most people believe they are getting 100% Kona when they are actually getting 10% Kona or even non-Kona beans.
How to identify counterfeit Kona coffee? This is coffee that retails at lower prices, usually found at big retail brick and online stores, at some farmers markets, or even street vendors. If you are paying $20 -25 dollars or less for one pound of “100% Kona Coffee”, there is a big possibility that you are not getting authentic, real 100% Kona coffee, you might be getting a lower grade (X-3 or “Off-grade” beans), which are not allowed to be labeled as “Kona”, according to HDOA standards. Lots of money and powerful big companies involved, local Kona coffee farmers organizations trying to change the laws for 10+ years to stop this deceiving practice, but the Bills never reach approval in local Congress. The reason? …lot of $$$$$$$$$ involved.