It's official! Our Kona coffee harvest season has begun. Our first round of picking for the 2024/25 season was last week, and processing has begun. Check out this short video with a few clips from those days:
Over the next six months, we will pick every 30 or 40 days as the cherry becomes ripe on the tree. All of our coffee is handpicked, so only the reddest ripest fruit is chosen. The green coffee stays on the trees until a subsequent round.
How is Kona coffee harvested?
The Kona coffee harvest typically takes place from August to January, with peak harvesting season in November. During this time, skilled teams handpick the ripe coffee cherries, ensuring that only the highest quality beans are selected. The cherries are then processed to extract the seeds, which are sun-dried and carefully roasted to perfection.
At Kona Earth, we process the fruit using a traditional water washed method. This method preserves the unique character of the coffee seed, reflecting the unique terroir of our volcanic soil and growing climate.
The cherry is loaded into a hopper that feeds the fruit into the pulper. The pulper removes the outer layers of skin and fruit, revealing the seeds inside. Then, a demucilager removes the sticky outer layer before ejecting the green beans into a large bin.
From there, the beans are spread out on the large drying deck, where they are sun-dried over several weeks. Constant raking circulates air flow and keeps the coffee beans free from mold. The farmer constantly monitors the moisture content of the beans. For specialty Kona coffee, the moisture content must fall between 9% and 12%. At this point, the coffee is referred to as parchment.
Once dried, it is bagged up in a large burlap bag, then placed in a temperature and humidity controlled storage room to "rest" for about 3 months. When it's ready, it goes through a dry milling process to remove the final onion skin layer, resulting in green coffee that is ready for roasting.
Over the course of 6 months, the volume of cherry coming in from the orchard is a bell-shaped curve, starting slowly and then gradually ramping up to the peak months of November, December, and January. Since Kona Earth is a high elevation farm, our harvest season tends to start a bit later and extend into early spring, often even as late as March or early April.
Oddly, this year, Kona Earth's coffee harvest season started about a month earlier than in previous years. Of course, mother nature is a mystery, so we're not sure why. We just stand ready to respond when the trees indicate "it's time".
Since our coffee is hand-picked by experienced workers who know how to select only the cherry that is ripe, pickers have VIP status during Kona coffee harvest season. Our farm workers earn a living wage. On average, pickers are paid about a dollar per pound of cherry, with an average daily haul of 250 - 300 pounds.
The Growth Cycle of Kona Coffee Trees
Kona coffee trees, which are grown in the fertile volcanic soil of Hawaii's Big Island, go through a complex growth cycle that allows them to produce coffee beans of the highest quality. The trees start by producing delicate, sweetly fragranced white blossoms that are reminiscent of jasmine or orange blossoms. When the blooms burst forth in the spring, usually after a big rain, local Kona coffee farmers refer to the white dusting of trees as "Kona snow". It's a beautiful sight and a sign of very good things to come. Kona Earth co-owner Joanie Wynn explains the process in this short clip:
The Kona coffee blossoms develop into a bright green fruit, that over time progresses from yellow to orange and finally, as the fruit continues to mature, into a deep, vibrant red cherry. When the farmer sees these dark red berries, he or she knows the coffee fruit is ready to be harvested. This unique phenomenon of having blossoms, immature fruit, and ripe cherry all at the same time is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of Kona coffee trees.
The Significance of this Phenomenon
This simultaneous presence of different stages of growth on Kona coffee trees is not only visually stunning but also plays a crucial role in the coffee production process. It ensures a continuous supply of coffee beans throughout the harvesting season, allowing farmers to carefully select only the ripest cherries for processing while leaving the immature fruit to develop further.
By maintaining this delicate balance of blossoms, immature fruit, and ripe cherry on the trees, Kona coffee farmers can enjoy a consistent and high-quality yield year after year.
Next time you enjoy a cup of Kona coffee, take a moment to appreciate the remarkable journey that each bean has taken, from blossom to cherry, then pulped, dried, milled, and roasted to perfection. The intricate growth cycle of Kona coffee trees is a true marvel of nature that continues to captivate coffee enthusiasts around the globe.
Here at Kona Earth, we take great pleasure in nurturing the coffee at every stage of production. We like to say it's "grown with Aloha".