So Close You Can Almost Taste It

Hawaii has some strict standards when it comes to grading coffee. The beans are graded on both size and number of defects.

First to know is that Hawaii is the only U.S. state which commercially grows coffee. Although some states are beginning to try growing it, it may be quite a while before they come anywhere close to Hawaii.

Hawaii is in a very advantageous location that being near the equator and having altitude above sea level. Venturing too far north or too far south of the equator and you cannot grow coffee. Too close to sea level or too high in elevation is also a problem. Weather in Hawaii is perfect for growing coffee.

Hawaii consists of various islands, some small, some larger and one (ours) very large. Our island is actually called “Hawaii” of which the state is named. Hawaii island is the size of the state of Connecticut and is comprised of 5 volcanoes of which one is still very active. Honolulu is on the island of Oahu in case you wondered.

With each island generally being a separate county, it was decided to allow the islands to qualify their coffee as regions. Thus the island of Kauai grows Kauai Coffee, Oahu, Maui and Molokai do too. The island of Hawaii is so big (that’s why we call t the ‘Big Island’) that it has many different climates; unlike the other islands. Of the 13 climate zones, we have 11 on the island. That means that coffee from one district will grow differently than another. Until recently, the ‘Kona” side (the west side) of the Big Island was the only place really growing coffee. More recently, the southern Kau district and more northern Hamakua region are starting production. Certainly, of all the areas growing coffee, Kona Coffee is the best known and most coveted.

In order for a coffee to carry the regional name where it is grown, it must meet certain strict standards. Coffee grown outside that area cannot be included. So if a farm is 3 feet outside the region, it is not coffee from that region.

Also, coffee is graded by the size of the bean. This done by either hand sorting or perhaps using different sized screens with holes on it; not unlike coin sorting. Smaller beans go through the small holes while larger beans travel further down to the screens with larger holes.

If a farm does not want to pay the extra expense of sorting by size, they may opt to not sort by size.

Another qualification for classification is to count the number of imperfections. The highest grade of coffee has imperfections in numbers of beans per pound. Imperfections may be a off-color bean or a chipped bean. Chipped beans may have been damaged in processing for example. As the grades go lower, imperfections of percentage of beans per pound is imposed rather than numbers of beans.

Some farms cull out the coveted smallest beans (peaberry) and sell them separately. Usually no more than 5% of the beans are peaberry, a mutated single bean rather that the normal 2 bean per cherry. Some say these beans are sweeter and more flavorful, others disagree. However you decide, it costs to pull them out and roast them by themselves. So you are paying a premium for that process.

It is suggested that similar sized beans will roast the same. Imagine two meatballs, one large and one small, both cooking. You can imagine that they may not cook the same. Whether the analogy holds the same for coffee beans, certainly the grading can allow a more consistent taste.

Many farms either do not have enough coffee at one time to grade mechanically or by hand, or prefer to not spend the extra money and effort to grade. They offer their coffee in an estate grade, which means that the coveted peaberry beans and the more general beans are all in the bag. This also means that they can offer you a great cup of coffee at a lower price.

So what happens to beans that do not quite make the grade as a regional coffee? As long as they still meet the slightly lower quality standards, they can be called “Hawaiian Coffee” meaning they come from the state but did not meet the standards of the region. Hawaiian graded coffee is still excellent coffee but not quite as good as the region it was grown in. Even Hawaiian graded coffee is still levels above many other coffees.

So what is happening with our coffee from our farm?

We have had some grading done already, however a neighbor is installing some new equipment which we are going to use. This equipment used video and color-matching to help grade the quality of coffee beans. Similar to grading by eye, it looks at beans as they flow through the device and if a bean is off color, it kicks it out a different chute. This machine can recover good beans and cull out bad ones and helps ensure the coffee is of better quality. That equipment is being calibrated this week and we expect by Friday to run our first lot through it. It should take a few hours.

Immediately after the machine has done its job, we will test roast. This will take a few hours and will help us determine which flavor profile tastes best. We will then head down to the roaster and have them roast up our beans. That can take a couple days depending upon how many people are ahead of us.

We are still on schedule to have our coffee offered for sale before Halloween.

Our neighbor Mark has bags ready and is printing labels for us.

We will ship out coffee within a day of your order and you can expect it to be delivered within 3-4 business days. We use USPS Priority shipping so that you have tracking. Also your order is automatically insured for up to $50.

Priority Mail is volume based and not weight based. Thus for each sized envelope or box, the cost is for the box, not the weight. Whether the box is full or empty, the cost is the same.

Generally we can fit up to 2 pounds of coffee in a padded envelope and up to 6 pounds in a medium box. When you place items in your shopping cart, you can ask for a shipping cost to be displayed.