Hawaii Kona Extra Fancy Mauku Honaunau District Hawaii: Kona Extra Fancy, Mauku Honaunau District

I don’t get it. I know it’s recommended to roast Kona on the light side, so I tried a city roast (no second crack) as I don’t tend to like lighter roasts. Brewed in Chemex. It’s just not special to me. The Uganda roasted to Vienna that I ordered at $6 a pound is far superior to my tastes. I understand that Kona is always expensive so not a knock on CBC, it’s just nowhere near worth the premium for me.

Took these beans just into second crack in a Whirley Pop and brewed with a Chemex. I was very disappointed (lots of woody flavors) and was concerned about the beans being stale, until I adjusted my grind size for a little coarser than I normally use. Result was an excellent, nutty, sweet cup.

Roasted it medium-dark. Brewed it straight in a Bialetti. Wow! Rich, bold, smooth and subtle flavors all at once. I decided to use it my latest blend called From the Mad Coffee Roaster's Personal Stash. (You ought to see the artwork.) 1/4 Kona, 1/4 Mocca-Java, 1/4 Colombian Organic Sierra Nevada, and 1/4 Vietnamese robusta. I roasted them to medium-dark except for the robusta which I roasted dark because I think that dark really brings out the flavor of the robusta. The result is a delicious coffee. It's ideal for espresso and the Bialetti. And affordable, too, at $20/lb + shipping.

Great coffee, but may require you play with ground grain size and packing to get the best flavor out of it. My first cup was almost excessivly floral, with lightly packed grains. The second cup, with firmer packing (same roast batch and same grind of grains) produced more of the body and chocolate notes. Due to the packing, the second batch was also a longer brew. It was also a much better brew. The tasting was done side-by-side with a cup of brewed Kenya AA beans, with the same grind, and brewed by the same process (it is my standard for a very solid coffee). The side-by-side allowed me to better notice the earthy notes in the Kenya coffee as well. In my opinion this bean holds up well to a City+ roast, and retains the lighter elements which are normally desired to be preserved. The beans also seem to benefit from a longer "development phase" of the roast at the end. Otherwise, you lose body, and the lighter elements tend to dominate the flavor profile to the point it is "unbalanced". Like any good coffe, it may take a bit of playing with ideal grain size and brew time to expose the best character in a cup. I am just glad I hit it on the second cup, as this coffee runs at a more dear price. Keep in mind this coffee is not a true "high altitude" bean (600 Meters above sea level), as such, your roasting profile should be more similar to South American beans grown at lower altitudes. Additional roasting notes: These beans really puffed up on size during the roast process.

Roasting review 10/03/2023. Roasted over open campfire using maple hardwood in northern Vermont in old fashioned wire popcorn popper. Large beans generate very little chaff. Easy to roast to light, medium, or dark. The beans behaved identically as they did last year. Smell great while roasting (cannot say the same of all of the other beans I have roasted this year or in the previous years (see other reviews).

I purchased the Kona Extra Fancy to see how it roasted and tasted. I also purchased the Kona Peaberry as well. I used my Hive Roaster with my standard "new coffee" profile. I roasted it to just beyond City and it roasted beautifully. The bean looked great and were very uniform. How did it taste? Pretty good with a few floral notes. A smooth cup. I was pleased with the outcome. Which one of the Konas did I like the best, read my review of the Kona Peaberry.

For the first time ever trying Kona coffee I enjoyed it. Was a little disappointed that two of the 1 lb bags I ordered were short could not quite weigh a pound but other than that the coffee is not too bad

Roasted to medium. Just bought a sample bag but it was excellent.