Hawaiian Kona – Hala Tree Org Estate Natural

Description

This is the Natural Processed Kona – very exotic with ferment tones and higher acidity. Lovely coffee but you have to like the ferment naturals – otherwise check out the Washed Processed.

This family owned and operated coffee farm is nestled in the picturesque slopes of one of Hawaii’s active volcanos – Mauna Loa – overlooking the Historical Kealakekua Bay. It is located in Captain Cook village in the heart of Kona Coffee Belt. It is an old traditionally terraced Japanese farm that thrived for generations. When they bought the land it was sadly abandoned and neglected for over a decade. They worked hard to bring back the farm to its old glory. Cleared the land of unwanted plants and trees, they weeded, pruned and fertilized those 80 year old coffee trees and it is very rewarding to see their lush, shiny, green leaves today.

They work only with organic products and do not use pesticides of any kind, just getting fully certified as of this crop. This is the first year the farm is 100% certified.

The 6 acres of land is with many fruit trees, apple bananas, mangoes, lychees, papayas, avocados, mountain apples, persimmons, cherimoyas, nonis, ulus (bread fruit), citruses and guavas. They sell those seasonal fruits freshly picked on the local market. They harvest guavas to make delicious jam. The upper part of the property was mostly a tropical forest, so they cleared and terraced 2 acres and planted new grafted trees. They should produce coffee already next year, but they would be in full in about 5 years.

They left some patches of undisturbed land to steep to be tamed and terraced, only removing invasive unwanted species. This natural habitat will one day be a beautiful guava forest with all kinds of wild ginger and many different kinds of ferns. They want the farm to be as healthy and productive as beautiful.

This is the new 2018/19 crop.

Tasting Notes:
A super cool, super exotic cup of Kona. Higher acidity with strong tones of citrus, floral and red fruit. Very wild up front balanced with a sweet chocolaty caramel like tone. A little different than last years batch with the higher acidity levels but just as tasty in my mind. Lighter roasts are front loaded with the floral and fruit tones; tasty but you have to like acidity. Darker roast were preferred by most, much more chocolaty, lower acidity with a nice fruitier overtone. Sweet upfront.

Roasting Notes:
Good from light to dark but the sweet spot is just before 2nd crack – a cup anyone will love (except those who strongly dislike ferment naturals). Many will like this cup lighter roasted, especially with a longer setup but it will be pretty sharp and higher acidity.