Kona coffee has its origins in the fertile fields of Kona, Hawaii. It is thought by many to be one of the world's finest coffee products.
This coffee saw its first cuttings planted in Kealakekua in 1828 and tended for almost a hundred years by dedicated Japanese farmers determined to bring this fine coffee bean to consumers everywhere. Despite this, the product is still a fairly rare commodity and it is still a little hard to buy Kona coffee on a routine trip to each and every store.
Today many farmers, millers, roaster and retailers in Kona continue to bring this fine crop to harvest. Coffee plantations are one of the few remaining agricultural farming opportunities in Hawaii but in recent years the industry has been threatened by companies dishonestly labeling their inferior blends as 'Kona' when in fact they are not the 'real thing'. To buy Kona coffee that is the real 'McCoy' you need to become an informed and savvy consumer aware of all those who seek to sell you an inferior product at a genuine price.
So how do you know if you are really buying and drinking authentic Kona Coffee?
Several large corporations and even individuals are using the good name of Kona to sell coffee that isn't in fact Kona grown at all. These firms will substitute the real product with a much cheaper sub-standard coffee bean from South America. If you haven't tasted Kona coffee before you are unlikely to realize that you have been ripped off until you taste the real thing.
In recent years several farms in the Kona area tried to obtain legal rights to the brand name 'Kona'. They were apparently thwarted in their efforts by five large companies who filed separate law suits against this action to try to stop the process from going forward. The brand name would have allowed farmers and others involved in the production of the product to attain federal protection.
