The Past, Present and Future of Kona Coffee
The history of Kona coffee is multicultural. Hawaii is a melting pot and many nationalities had a hand in bringing coffee to Hawaii, and cultivating it over the years. Native Hawaiians, Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese, and Filipinos all took part in rearing the trees but it was the Spanish who played the most important role by introducing coffee to Hawaii. Kona coffee as a culture has long been characterized by a work ethic like no other. Coffee takes dedication and work year-round. Coffee is often cultivated by a family unity, but it takes community cooperation to make the coffee industry thrive.
A Spanish friend of Kamehameha's planted coffee on the island of Oahu in the early 1800's. A decade later more coffee trees were brought from Brazil, and it was from this migration that coffee plants were then brought to Kona. That variety was Coffee Arabica that originated in the high plateaus of Ethiopia. This coffee became known in Hawaii as Hawaiian coffee and it is to this day what is grown in Kona. In the mid-1800's coffee prices sored and more and more coffee was cultivated in Hawaii, in particularly, Kona. Coffee had a short heyday until sugar was introduced and took over as the more lucrative crop. Over the next few centuries Kona Coffee had highs and lows, endured droughts and labor shortages, bounced back during times of war, and survived when big coffee plantations in Kona came to an end.
Today, Kona coffee still thrives. But it has come full circle and now is made
up more of many small "mom and pop" farmers as opposed to all the
big plantations of yesterday. Aloha Kona Coffee is a perfect example of the
classic Kona Coffee tradition being kept alive. It is a small farm that
can guarantee the quality of its coffee in the old tradition,
as opposed to big farms that focus on quantity. The strong work ethic of Kona
Coffee farmers still rings true today. There is a close knit community of coffee
farmers on the slopes of Kona. Neighbors share workers, tools, and trade new
information and help one another. Coffee is celebrated in Kona and there are
annual festivals to reminisce and pay tribute to the generations of coffee
tradition that is still alive and well today! Aloha Kona Coffee Company is
proud to carry on this time-honored tradition.
