Kona Coffee: the Pride of Hawaii

Coffee is one of the most important commodities the world over. This byproduct of coffee cherries and coffee beans has remained one of the most popular beverages.

From the time that it originated from Ethiopia centuries ago, coffee has become a household basic - something that people cannot do without.

There are two basic coffee variants: one is the traditional Arabica, and the other is Robusta coffee. Many coffee enthusiasts agree that the former has a stronger flavor than the latter, so it tastes better.

This is because Arabica coffee contains beans in its purest form - rather than Robusta coffee which only has half of the caffeine amount that can be found in Arabica coffee variants.

Due to the high demand of Arabica coffee in the industry, many rare coffee variants found only in certain places have found a niche market.

Hawaii's Kona Coffee

Aside from the gorgeous beaches, lush forests and warm people, another thing that Hawaiians are proud of is a coffee variant that is solely produced in their islands, which is the Kona coffee.

Kona is a part of the Hawaiian archipelago where this special coffee variant is grown. Kailua-Kona is the largest town in the district, and it has two districts: the northern and southern districts of Kona.

On the Dry Side of the Island

The word Kona literally means on the dry side of the land. Kona coffee if therefore grown on the dry side of Big Island, which is the largest among all the Hawaiian islands.

There are two districts which divide Kailua-Kona, and Kona coffee grows primarily on the West side of the Hawaiian archipelago.

This location, as well as the climate, makes Hawaii an ideal setting to grow Kona coffee, which has become a world-class coffee variant.

What makes coffee plants in Kona unique from other coffee plants in the world are:

1. The ideal location

Hawaii is basically a group of islands formed by volcanic slopes. Kona coffee if grown along the rocky volcanic slopes of Mount Lona and Mount Hualalai.

2. The ideal climate

Due to the tropical climate in Hawaii, the mornings are almost always warm and sunny. During the afternoon, there is a slight mist which befalls the islands, further nurturing the coffee plants.

3. The meticulous care of coffee farmers.

Most of the coffee farmers in Hawaii rely on the basic hand-picking method, ensuring the freshness of the freshly-gathered coffee cherries.

Some coffee producers use modern machinery to ensure fast harvesting when the coffee cherries are mature enough. However, a machine cannot give out the personal touch that farmers can give during harvesting.

A machine may not recognize overripe or immature coffee beans, and put them all together once harvested. This results in an impure coffee blend once the beans are processed.

On the other hand, a hand-picked batch of coffee cherries is assured of almost 100 per cent quality.

Kona coffee is also an Arabica blend, making it a truly premier coffee variant that Hawaiians can proudly offer to the world.

Dave Poon is an accomplished writer who specializes in the latest in Food and Drink. For more information regarding Kona Coffee please drop by at http://www.hotcoffeeplus.com/

Kona Coffee http://www.hotcoffeeplus.com/

Why You Need To Support Fair Trade Coffee More Than Ever

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The consumption of coffee is rising in the US as it is gaining popularity. We consume a lot of coffee. Some of us cannot even make it through a day without a few cups of coffee. In fact Americans are responsible for one fifth of the world's coffee consumption. So we are the main economic supporter of the coffee industry.

Most Americans would have little idea how the coffee we drink is produced, harvested and shipped to us. We are just thankful that coffee is readily available over the counter whenever we want it.

The Fair Trade coffee movement aims to change all that. As better informed consumers, we are now told of the exploits of some coffee importers. We now realized that many of these coffee workers or farmers who toil tirelessly in the fields are not getting a fair price for their produce.

These farmers are often are getting paid less for their coffee than it cost them to produce and maintain their coffee farms. This will mean that these farmers and their families will never be able to break out of poverty and debt. The Fair Trade coffee movement will make certain that most coffee farmers can get a decent price for their harvest and make a living off it.

Coffee prices can be volatile and when the prices fell very low, many farmers will not be able to support their families and farm lands. Thus the Fair Trade coffee movement is needed more than ever by these farmers. When coffee prices fall, it does not mean that the average consumer will ever enjoy cheaper coffee. Instead, the prices remain just as high. This means that coffee companies are making more profits. However it will mean poverty and hunger for many of these coffee farmers.

The Fair Trade Certified coffee is being introduced in the US to ensure that the coffee was produced under fair labor conditions and a reasonable price was paid for the coffee. This money paid will go into helping the health care, education, ecological stewardship, and financial independence. It will also provide the much needed financing and credit, technological assistance in shifting to better methods of farming and other research purposes.

Help to make all these possible by buying coffee only from Fair Trade Certified coffee companies. This can not only help ensure the quality of coffee and constant supply but also let you sleep better when you know no one is starving so that you can have your cup of coffee.

For more information on coffee, coffee grinders and Fair Trade coffee , please visit Coffee Drinking Tips and Reviews

Fair Trade coffee Coffee Drinking Tips and Reviews

Coffee Connoisseur 101

Like most things in life, if you'd just delve into a particular topic, you'd be amazed at the rich tapestry of culture and stories involved with it. A great example is that of coffee. Now to the average consumer, they may not think too much of it. They know that it's widely accessible, and that it tastes good. And if you want to make some at home you'd just buy a coffee maker and some beans.

Well that is a great outline for the coffee culture, but you can literally expand on each specific element of coffee ranging from it's history, to how it's purchased, how to properly taste test coffee, roasting strategies, grinding techniques, brewing tips, serving styles, and how to grow coffee itself.

If you are remotely interested in coffee, then you owe it to yourself to get some books on this massively interesting topic. There are even entire careers beyond being a server within the coffee industry from the science of coffee, to business, and logistics. It's much more than meets the eye and yet it's something we take for granted on a daily basis.

I am sure that once you've learned more about the nuances and intricacies of coffee, your coffee days will never be the same. You will know that being a connoisseur is not just about being a pretentious know-it-all who makes others feel dumb, but someone who truly knows how to enjoy real coffee.

Commercial coffee grinder affiliated packages and services are available at our web page.

Commercial coffee grinder affiliated packages and services

America's Perception of "Gourmet" Coffee

It's an enormous industry involving many players in the supply chain—the growers and farm workers, the processing mills, exporters and importers, small-batch roasters and huge commercial roasters, coffeehouses and cafes—all of who do their part to bring coffee to you, the final consumer. Coffee is the second most-highly traded commodity in the world next to oil.

Considering how large the coffee industry is, how much of what's marketed as gourmet could actually be considered truly gourmet coffee? Which, unfortunately, doesn't seem to apply to the coffee most Americans drink on a daily basis. By definition, it implies rare, expensive, high-quality, or at least sophisticated in some form of its preparation and service. You'll find one word dominates the label rhetoric: "Gourmet." Gourmet, it's such a over-used term. Take a walk down the coffee aisle of a grocery store and read the labels.

In fact, the reality is they're much likelier selling the exact opposite of high quality coffee beans. That being the case, it becomes hard to believe the ads and labels on store shelves claiming rich, delicious, gourmet coffee. Sad to say, it's estimated only 10 percent of coffee sold is considered poor to satisfactory in quality.

Dark roasting covers a multitude of sins, including any flavor flaws. It's precisely because of their low quality. While there are some specific coffees that taste wonderful as a dark roast, there's a reason most coffee today is roasted so dark. Not necessarily true. Somehow the influential marketing gurus at roasting companies have managed to convince the masses that dark roasted coffee equals gourmet coffee. For instance, consider the ever applauded Dark Roast.

Why use expensive, high-grade beans for flavored coffee, since the natural flavors themselves will never be detected over the added flavorings of Irish cream, French Vanilla, or Hazelnut. And then there's flavored coffee—a low-quality bean masquerading as gourmet coffee.

And for a true connoisseur of coffee, that's what you should be looking for. A lighter roast shows that the roaster has confidence in the quality of the beans. Of course the actual lightness of the roast will depend on your personal taste. Similar to grilling a steak, a great coffee will often taste great as rare to medium, or, in coffee terms, light to medium. Though the marketing says otherwise, coffee that is indeed gourmet should never require extensive roasting.

current trends of coffee consumption

Here are some highlights from the 2008 Coffee Drinking Trends report: The 2008 report has recently been made available, and the NCAUSA web site gives a brief summary of what the organization has found out about how we Americans like our coffee. The report has become one of the bibles of the coffee industry. Each year, the National Coffee Association of the USA publishes their report on National Coffee Drinking Trends.

• 17% of the adult population consumed a gourmet beverage on a daily basis in 2008 and 14% in 2007.
  
  Drinking gourmet coffee has become a national pastime. It's not just the explosion of Starbucks across the nation that's fueling it, though their marketing has certainly awakened the taste buds of a whole generation. These days, you can buy your gourmet coffee at any number of places. Here are just of the few 'new' outlets for gourmet coffee.
  
  
  • McDonalds, which started selling Newman's Own Organic coffee a while back, has started marketing the McDonalds Café concept, with lattes, cappuccinos and McDonalds Gourmet coffee as of January 2008.
    
  • Burger King's BKJoe brand is roasted by Douwy Egberts, the second largest coffee roaster in the world, expressly for BK.
    
  • Target, the national department store chain, packages and distributes its own brand of gourmet and single origin coffees.
    
  • Store 24, a major East Coast convenience store chain, offers Green Mountain Roasters gourmet coffee in all of their stores.
    
  • 7-11, national convenience store chain, has made the gourmet coffee bar a central part of their new store design, and offers a wide variety of ready-to-go coffee for consumers on the run.

Here are some more highlights form the report: The Senseo, Tassimo and Keurig systems have all increased sales and feature gourmet coffees in their coffee lines. Another factor in the increase of gourmet coffee drinking is the popularity of single serve coffee systems, which make it easier to have gourmet coffee at home every morning.

• Adults 25-59 led the upswing with 19% of daily gourmet coffee drinkers. This is an increase of six percentage points from 2007.
  
  
  
  • In the young adult demographic, coffee drinking was down last year in that age group; with 44 percent reporting that they drink coffee as opposed to 47 percent the previous year.
    
    
  • On the other hand, 18 to 24 year olds are becoming serious coffee drinkers. In 2005, only 26 percent of young adults in that age bracket considered themselves coffee drinkers. By 2007, that figure was up to 37%, making the 18-24 year old coffee market the fastest growing segment of the market. Older adults, in the 40 to 59 year old bracket, are also big coffee drinkers. This age group increased from 59 percent to 61 percent over the previous year, and those age 60 and over report the most coffee consumers - 74 percent of adults in that age bracket reported that they drink coffee every day.

• Consumption of cups per day by consumers age 18-24 continued to trend higher in 2008. Young adults who drank coffee consumed an average of 3.2 cups per day as compared with 3.1 in 2007, a significant increase over 2005's level of 2.5 cups per day.
  
  Our generation grew up thinking of coffee as a morning pick-me-up and after dinner drink for adults only. The 18-24 year old group has a different view of coffee, thanks to the coffee shop culture. Where older generations gathered at the local soda shop, these kids made the local coffee shop their afternoon hangout. Starbucks and other local chains improved their coffees with flavors, sugar and many creams. This makes their coffee more appealing to the younger crowd. As those kids graduate from high school and move on to college, they're finding that their love of coffee moves along with them.
  
  
  
  • Past year consumption of iced and frozen coffee is up significantly from 2007 levels.
    Maybe it's the heavy marketing? Nothing tastes quite as good on a hot summer afternoon as a tall glass of iced coffee, but until the past few years, who knew? These days you can get your iced coffee fix at your local McDonalds, Burger King or Dunkin Donuts, or you can brew it yourself at home. The most popular frozen and iced coffee drinks include:
    
  • Dunkin Donuts, who claim that they practically invented iced coffee, has been selling their coffee over ice for years. In the late 90s, they added the Coffee Coolata, which could be topped with whipped cream.
    
    
  • Wawa, a popular convenience store located throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia is a popular location for coffee enthusiasts in these east coast states. They have sold over 195 million cups of their freshly brewed coffee. Wawa uses their own blend of coffee beans and make quality coffee a top priority.

Overall, Americans enjoy coffee daily and everybody has their favorite location to get their coffee fix. Over the years, these trends change while coffee is introduced to new demographics. All of these coffee trends show that coffee is a popular drink among many age groups and is part of American culture.

Here are some highlights from the 2008 Coffee Drinking Trends report: The 2008 report has recently been made available, and the NCAUSA web site gives a brief summary of what the organization has found out about how we Americans like our coffee. The report has become one of the bibles of the coffee industry. Each year, the National Coffee Association of the USA publishes their report on National Coffee Drinking Trends.

• 17% of the adult population consumed a gourmet beverage on a daily basis in 2008 and 14% in 2007.
  
  Drinking gourmet coffee has become a national pastime. It's not just the explosion of Starbucks across the nation that's fueling it, though their marketing has certainly awakened the taste buds of a whole generation. These days, you can buy your gourmet coffee at any number of places. Here are just of the few 'new' outlets for gourmet coffee.
  
  
  • McDonalds, which started selling Newman's Own Organic coffee a while back, has started marketing the McDonalds Café concept, with lattes, cappuccinos and McDonalds Gourmet coffee as of January 2008.
    
  • Burger King's BKJoe brand is roasted by Douwy Egberts, the second largest coffee roaster in the world, expressly for BK.
    
  • Target, the national department store chain, packages and distributes its own brand of gourmet and single origin coffees.
    
  • Store 24, a major East Coast convenience store chain, offers Green Mountain Roasters gourmet coffee in all of their stores.
    
  • 7-11, national convenience store chain, has made the gourmet coffee bar a central part of their new store design, and offers a wide variety of ready-to-go coffee for consumers on the run.

17% of the adult population consumed a gourmet beverage on a daily basis in 2008 and 14% in 2007.

Drinking gourmet coffee has become a national pastime. It's not just the explosion of Starbucks across the nation that's fueling it, though their marketing has certainly awakened the taste buds of a whole generation. These days, you can buy your gourmet coffee at any number of places. Here are just of the few 'new' outlets for gourmet coffee.

• McDonalds, which started selling Newman's Own Organic coffee a while back, has started marketing the McDonalds Café concept, with lattes, cappuccinos and McDonalds Gourmet coffee as of January 2008.
  
• Burger King's BKJoe brand is roasted by Douwy Egberts, the second largest coffee roaster in the world, expressly for BK.
  
• Target, the national department store chain, packages and distributes its own brand of gourmet and single origin coffees.
  
• Store 24, a major East Coast convenience store chain, offers Green Mountain Roasters gourmet coffee in all of their stores.
  
• 7-11, national convenience store chain, has made the gourmet coffee bar a central part of their new store design, and offers a wide variety of ready-to-go coffee for consumers on the run.

• McDonalds, which started selling Newman's Own Organic coffee a while back, has started marketing the McDonalds Café concept, with lattes, cappuccinos and McDonalds Gourmet coffee as of January 2008.
  
• Burger King's BKJoe brand is roasted by Douwy Egberts, the second largest coffee roaster in the world, expressly for BK.
  
• Target, the national department store chain, packages and distributes its own brand of gourmet and single origin coffees.
  
• Store 24, a major East Coast convenience store chain, offers Green Mountain Roasters gourmet coffee in all of their stores.
  
• 7-11, national convenience store chain, has made the gourmet coffee bar a central part of their new store design, and offers a wide variety of ready-to-go coffee for consumers on the run.

McDonalds, which started selling Newman's Own Organic coffee a while back, has started marketing the McDonalds Café concept, with lattes, cappuccinos and McDonalds Gourmet coffee as of January 2008.

Burger King's BKJoe brand is roasted by Douwy Egberts, the second largest coffee roaster in the world, expressly for BK.

Target, the national department store chain, packages and distributes its own brand of gourmet and single origin coffees.

Store 24, a major East Coast convenience store chain, offers Green Mountain Roasters gourmet coffee in all of their stores.

7-11, national convenience store chain, has made the gourmet coffee bar a central part of their new store design, and offers a wide variety of ready-to-go coffee for consumers on the run.

Here are some more highlights form the report: The Senseo, Tassimo and Keurig systems have all increased sales and feature gourmet coffees in their coffee lines. Another factor in the increase of gourmet coffee drinking is the popularity of single serve coffee systems, which make it easier to have gourmet coffee at home every morning.

• Adults 25-59 led the upswing with 19% of daily gourmet coffee drinkers. This is an increase of six percentage points from 2007.
  
  
  
  • In the young adult demographic, coffee drinking was down last year in that age group; with 44 percent reporting that they drink coffee as opposed to 47 percent the previous year.
    
    
  • On the other hand, 18 to 24 year olds are becoming serious coffee drinkers. In 2005, only 26 percent of young adults in that age bracket considered themselves coffee drinkers. By 2007, that figure was up to 37%, making the 18-24 year old coffee market the fastest growing segment of the market. Older adults, in the 40 to 59 year old bracket, are also big coffee drinkers. This age group increased from 59 percent to 61 percent over the previous year, and those age 60 and over report the most coffee consumers - 74 percent of adults in that age bracket reported that they drink coffee every day.

Adults 25-59 led the upswing with 19% of daily gourmet coffee drinkers. This is an increase of six percentage points from 2007.

• In the young adult demographic, coffee drinking was down last year in that age group; with 44 percent reporting that they drink coffee as opposed to 47 percent the previous year.
  
  
• On the other hand, 18 to 24 year olds are becoming serious coffee drinkers. In 2005, only 26 percent of young adults in that age bracket considered themselves coffee drinkers. By 2007, that figure was up to 37%, making the 18-24 year old coffee market the fastest growing segment of the market. Older adults, in the 40 to 59 year old bracket, are also big coffee drinkers. This age group increased from 59 percent to 61 percent over the previous year, and those age 60 and over report the most coffee consumers - 74 percent of adults in that age bracket reported that they drink coffee every day.

• In the young adult demographic, coffee drinking was down last year in that age group; with 44 percent reporting that they drink coffee as opposed to 47 percent the previous year.
  
  
• On the other hand, 18 to 24 year olds are becoming serious coffee drinkers. In 2005, only 26 percent of young adults in that age bracket considered themselves coffee drinkers. By 2007, that figure was up to 37%, making the 18-24 year old coffee market the fastest growing segment of the market. Older adults, in the 40 to 59 year old bracket, are also big coffee drinkers. This age group increased from 59 percent to 61 percent over the previous year, and those age 60 and over report the most coffee consumers - 74 percent of adults in that age bracket reported that they drink coffee every day.

In the young adult demographic, coffee drinking was down last year in that age group; with 44 percent reporting that they drink coffee as opposed to 47 percent the previous year.

On the other hand, 18 to 24 year olds are becoming serious coffee drinkers. In 2005, only 26 percent of young adults in that age bracket considered themselves coffee drinkers. By 2007, that figure was up to 37%, making the 18-24 year old coffee market the fastest growing segment of the market. Older adults, in the 40 to 59 year old bracket, are also big coffee drinkers. This age group increased from 59 percent to 61 percent over the previous year, and those age 60 and over report the most coffee consumers - 74 percent of adults in that age bracket reported that they drink coffee every day.

• Consumption of cups per day by consumers age 18-24 continued to trend higher in 2008. Young adults who drank coffee consumed an average of 3.2 cups per day as compared with 3.1 in 2007, a significant increase over 2005's level of 2.5 cups per day.
  
  Our generation grew up thinking of coffee as a morning pick-me-up and after dinner drink for adults only. The 18-24 year old group has a different view of coffee, thanks to the coffee shop culture. Where older generations gathered at the local soda shop, these kids made the local coffee shop their afternoon hangout. Starbucks and other local chains improved their coffees with flavors, sugar and many creams. This makes their coffee more appealing to the younger crowd. As those kids graduate from high school and move on to college, they're finding that their love of coffee moves along with them.
  
  
  
  • Past year consumption of iced and frozen coffee is up significantly from 2007 levels.
    Maybe it's the heavy marketing? Nothing tastes quite as good on a hot summer afternoon as a tall glass of iced coffee, but until the past few years, who knew? These days you can get your iced coffee fix at your local McDonalds, Burger King or Dunkin Donuts, or you can brew it yourself at home. The most popular frozen and iced coffee drinks include:
    
  • Dunkin Donuts, who claim that they practically invented iced coffee, has been selling their coffee over ice for years. In the late 90s, they added the Coffee Coolata, which could be topped with whipped cream.
    
    
  • Wawa, a popular convenience store located throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia is a popular location for coffee enthusiasts in these east coast states. They have sold over 195 million cups of their freshly brewed coffee. Wawa uses their own blend of coffee beans and make quality coffee a top priority.

Consumption of cups per day by consumers age 18-24 continued to trend higher in 2008. Young adults who drank coffee consumed an average of 3.2 cups per day as compared with 3.1 in 2007, a significant increase over 2005's level of 2.5 cups per day.

Our generation grew up thinking of coffee as a morning pick-me-up and after dinner drink for adults only. The 18-24 year old group has a different view of coffee, thanks to the coffee shop culture. Where older generations gathered at the local soda shop, these kids made the local coffee shop their afternoon hangout. Starbucks and other local chains improved their coffees with flavors, sugar and many creams. This makes their coffee more appealing to the younger crowd. As those kids graduate from high school and move on to college, they're finding that their love of coffee moves along with them.

• Past year consumption of iced and frozen coffee is up significantly from 2007 levels.
  Maybe it's the heavy marketing? Nothing tastes quite as good on a hot summer afternoon as a tall glass of iced coffee, but until the past few years, who knew? These days you can get your iced coffee fix at your local McDonalds, Burger King or Dunkin Donuts, or you can brew it yourself at home. The most popular frozen and iced coffee drinks include:
  
• Dunkin Donuts, who claim that they practically invented iced coffee, has been selling their coffee over ice for years. In the late 90s, they added the Coffee Coolata, which could be topped with whipped cream.
  
  
• Wawa, a popular convenience store located throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia is a popular location for coffee enthusiasts in these east coast states. They have sold over 195 million cups of their freshly brewed coffee. Wawa uses their own blend of coffee beans and make quality coffee a top priority.

• Past year consumption of iced and frozen coffee is up significantly from 2007 levels.
  Maybe it's the heavy marketing? Nothing tastes quite as good on a hot summer afternoon as a tall glass of iced coffee, but until the past few years, who knew? These days you can get your iced coffee fix at your local McDonalds, Burger King or Dunkin Donuts, or you can brew it yourself at home. The most popular frozen and iced coffee drinks include:
  
• Dunkin Donuts, who claim that they practically invented iced coffee, has been selling their coffee over ice for years. In the late 90s, they added the Coffee Coolata, which could be topped with whipped cream.
  
  
• Wawa, a popular convenience store located throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia is a popular location for coffee enthusiasts in these east coast states. They have sold over 195 million cups of their freshly brewed coffee. Wawa uses their own blend of coffee beans and make quality coffee a top priority.

Past year consumption of iced and frozen coffee is up significantly from 2007 levels.
Maybe it's the heavy marketing? Nothing tastes quite as good on a hot summer afternoon as a tall glass of iced coffee, but until the past few years, who knew? These days you can get your iced coffee fix at your local McDonalds, Burger King or Dunkin Donuts, or you can brew it yourself at home. The most popular frozen and iced coffee drinks include:

Dunkin Donuts, who claim that they practically invented iced coffee, has been selling their coffee over ice for years. In the late 90s, they added the Coffee Coolata, which could be topped with whipped cream.

Wawa, a popular convenience store located throughout portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia is a popular location for coffee enthusiasts in these east coast states. They have sold over 195 million cups of their freshly brewed coffee. Wawa uses their own blend of coffee beans and make quality coffee a top priority.

Overall, Americans enjoy coffee daily and everybody has their favorite location to get their coffee fix. Over the years, these trends change while coffee is introduced to new demographics. All of these coffee trends show that coffee is a popular drink among many age groups and is part of American culture.