100% Kona Coffee: Is there really a difference?
8 July 2007
A customer walked into a coffee shop to order a cup of coffee. Before
ordering, he asked the barista how long it had been since the coffee had been
brewed. She didn't know but was willing to come get him when she brewed
a fresh pot. He said he had some paperwork to do and wouldn't mind
waiting. Another barista standing nearby overheard the conversation and,
after giving the customer a scornful look, proceeded make a fresh pot.
When the new pot was ready the second barista took a cup of the fresh coffee
and a cup of the older coffee over to the customer who was quietly sitting at
a table by himself. The barista offered to pay for the coffee if the
customer could tell which cup was which.
The customer said not only could he tell, but he would do it by smell
alone. After a brief waft of the aroma from each cup, he instantly
identified the freshly brewed coffee. As further demonstration, he
sampled each cup so he could give a detailed analysis of the coffee,
commenting on its origin, how it had been roasted, its freshness, flavor and
aroma profile.
What the barista didn't know was that the customer was a graduate student at
the University of Hawaii doing his dissertation on coffee. He was
specializing in coffee quality, chemisty, physiology and nutrition. Part
of his research included trying to identify and categorize the intricacies
in flavor and aroma present in a cup of coffee. So he was better than the
average bear at identifying fresh coffee.
I was talking with this grad student after attending a workshop titled "Coffee
Quality Begins on the Farm". It had been a long workshop with several
experts that covered everything from profound truths to trivial details.
Trying to sort through all this information, I asked the grad student, Shawn,
how important all this stuff really was. There's a huge quality
difference between canned grocery store coffee and 100% Kona coffee fresh from
the farm. If the big companies can get away with selling stale, inferior
coffee, do I really need to worry about taking the occasional shortcut or
two? Does it really matter if the coffee is stored at 60 degrees or 70
degrees? Can anybody taste if a few beans were chipped in the milling
process? How many people can distinguish coffee roasted two days ago
from coffee roasted two months ago? Do all those details really
matter?
That's when Shawn told me his little story. He admitted that he is a coffee
snob and most people are perfectly happy with two-hour-old coffee. He
assured me though, that with practice and maybe a little guidance, anybody can
learn to distinguish and appreciate the subtleties in a good cup of coffee.
Kona coffee isn't just another coffee, it is a premium gourmet coffee enjoyed
by people that appreciate good coffee. Taking shortcuts can save time
and money but it can also affect quality. I take pride in my coffee and
I want to produce the best coffee possible so yes, everything matters, even
the little details.
Photo courtesy of Shawn Steiman
Not all coffee beans are created equal. All coffee farmers end up with
some good stuff and some bad stuff. Just the other day I threw away 500
pounds of freshly picked coffee cherry because the beans floated instead of
sank (caused by a stint of overly dry weather). Some places would have
mixed those bad beans in with everything else, but not here. The entire
pulping, drying and storing process is performed by me personally, not by
employees, so I see nearly every bean. When we do hire help, I'm right
there making sure nobody takes shortcuts. Once, after complaining that
someone had spilled a few beans (out of the thousands they had just moved
successfully), I was labelled with the phrase "Every bean is sacred."
Coffee farming is my full-time job. Our livelihood depends on repeat
customers and we won't have repeat customers without quality coffee.
I care about our coffee and I care about the minor details. The profit
margin on Kona coffee is surprisingly thin so attention to detail
matters. I attend very long workshops filled with information I already
know just to make sure I haven't missed anything and hope that maybe I'll learn
how to make my coffee even better. And I'm not alone. There are over
600 coffee farms in Kona and many of them are owned privately by people that
take pride in their product and want to produce the best coffee possible.
Not all Kona coffee farms produce good coffee, but many do. Not everyone
can tell the difference between 100% Kona coffee and cheaper Kona blends, but
many can. Living and working on the farm, I can tell you first hand that
growing good coffee is a lot of work. It is a whole lot of work.
In the end though, it's nice to know that there are people out there that seek
out and appreciate good coffee. If you're one of those people then good
for you, visit my website (or any farm direct website) and we'll be happy to
set you up with some fresh 100% Kona coffee.
On the other hand, if you're someone that is content with whatever coffee is
cheapest at the grocery store, that's fine too, everybody has different tastes
and opinions. Just remember, the next time you're in a coffee shop and
the man in line ahead of you notices that his coffee isn't perfect, he just
might know what he is talking about.
|
