The first coffee I will be looking at is a bit of a surprise find for me. The shop that I mentioned in my introduction post carries green, non-blended Kona coffee beans. I’ve bought Kona beans in Hawaii from a reputable store in the past but it was a blend and it was a dark roast. I wanted to see if the more pungent flavors I tasted from the dark roast beans was due to the dark roast or not.

The beans I bought were roasted that day, May 13th, so as fresh as you can get. Leagues above the Kona beans you get from Amazon or most other online shops. The green beans are apparently sourced from Hawaiian Queen Coffee. The coffee itself is the Extra Fancy line from HQC, their highest priced coffee, along with the Peaberry line.

The Beans:

Smell -The beans do have a very earthy aroma. There is some notes of charcoal there as well despite the lighter roast. Unfortunately, so far I don’t get that pungent smell just yet.

Taste – The beans taste very much like soil smells. A very interesting taste. I can start to get the pungency I was looking for earlier.

Brewing:

Not much additional to notes came out when brewing the coffee. There was a touch of that ash in the aromas. One thing that was interesting was the bloom. It was a very subtle bloom so not a lot of CO2. The final smell, once everything had time to settle a bit, did start showing a little more character, a very pungent and almost sour smell.

Taste:

I first want to address the pungent taste. Kona coffee has a very distinct taste that matches my previous encounter with it. It has a very deep, earthiness that reminds me a bit of a matchstick or firework smoke. My theory is that this is due to the richness of the volcanic soil, which gives it a very unique personality. Because it is such a distinct flavor, I think I would be able to guess a Kona coffee from others even though I am on an amateur level.

A lot of people seem to describe this coffee as chocolatey. I did not find it very chocolatey due to how pungent it was. It has some of the bitterness of dark chocolate but it’s not enough for me to call it chocolatey. Instead, I think more of a ripe, acidic and sour fruit along with the very deep earthy, almost phosphorus like taste. It is definitely an experience and is very unique.

In more personal terms, I find it a little lacking in balance and taste overall. While very unique, it doesn’t have a flavor profile that I would consider drinking as a treat. And it is a treat level coffee. I paid 2700 Yen for 100 grams. That is part of the price I pay for getting guaranteed Kona beans as well as freshly roasted beans. This coffee is one of those things I am glad I had the chance to try and find the experience very valuable but also something I probably won’t seek out again.

For me, this would be a 6-6.5 out 10 level coffee. If it was the choice between this and, say, a more premium Blue Mountain , Kilimanjaro, or Colombian coffee, I would pick one of the others over the Kona. However, if you have a chance to try the Kona Coffee and want to, give it a go. There is definitely a crowd for the flavors in Kona coffee and I am can see part of the appeal. I just prefer more light, refreshing style coffees compared to the deep, pungent, slightly rough flavors you get in the Kona.