Yaaay for Kona!!!!

[Ray.Hood]

Bought a pound last night....still awake...don't care...love it...must have more...Hawaiians make some serious coffee, Ray :D

[vampyrewolf]

Welcome to kona annonymous. Please insert your remaining stock in an envelope and send it here for disposal. We CAN get you through this....

;) :D

I dunno how much I've spent on kona so far... 300usd+ ? have another 32oz downstairs on my shelf and about 8oz to use.

[JD Spydo]

I had a customer of mine bring me back 2 pounds of Coffee directly from the island of Kona. You're right Sir the Kona is truly Coffee fit for kings & queens.
There is only one other Coffee that I have ever drank in my life that compares to Kona. I got a pound of a Coffee called "Jamacian Blue" for Christmas last year and it was also very smooth and very satisfying. It kind of ruins you in a way because when I go back to drinking the 8 o' Clock Coffee from my local grocery store it feels like I am being punished. You all gotta try it at least once. :) :)

[Ted]

I'm interested!
Where can I order?

Ted

[java]

Neophytes!!! Rookies!!! Greenhorns!!!
Kona indeed! A robust and well bodied enough elixir with very lively, bright, floral and sweet aromatics but she doesn't have the earthy tone of say a good Blue Mountain Mavis Bank or Australian Mountain Top Estate XF. Kona cups out at about 8.0 in java's book and is better blended with a decent Ethiopean Yirgacheffe to accent the bright highlights and refine the finish. Er....whoops wrong Forum. :o

Kona good! Yes! If you can find the unblended estate varietals like Honaunau Peaberry Grade 1 (Grade refers to the size of the berry) and have it fresh gound it really does make for a good cupajava. It is best enjoyed anchored on the leeward side of one of the Hawaiian Islands watching the sunrise over the Pacific with a healthy plate of macadamias and fresh pineapple.

Blue Mountain is an interesting high dollar coffee. Grown on the volcanic slopes of Jamaica, the Japanese import over 90% of the annual crop. It runs about $8 - 10 per pound ground and packaged in Japan but you can pay $16 - 30 per pound here. Blue Mountain coffee is tightly controlled and inspected by the Jamaican government to maintain its reputation as one of the world's finest coffees.

An up and coming exotic varietal suprisingly comes from Australia. Australian Mountaintop is grown in the in the mountains of SE Oz in the rich red soils of the extinct Mt Warning volcano. Most of the northern Oz coffees have had a taste that ranged from copy paper to plastic wrappers but the Mountaintop XF coffee yields a full bodied, bright, and aromatic cup that is on par with the finer Kona and Blue Mountain beans and at about half the price.

For everyday all around use, I get by with a slightly less acidic Sumatran Mandheling or a good Central American Estate coffee like Hartman "Songbird".

As mass produced American blended and canned coffee has started yielding shelf space to store fronted baggabeans, Java lost interest and started buying his own green beans for home roasting and blending. Before WWII most Americans bought their beans green and roasted them in pans over a gas or wood fired stovetop. There are a host of low priced roasters out there now from handcranked pan roasters to converted popcorn poppers to low cost moving fluid bed (hot forced air) and drum roasters. Java uses a 2 1/2 oz (just right for a 10 cup pot) Fresh Roast plus roaster that tans them beans in 5 minutes and follows with a crtical 2 minute cool air flow to halt the roasting process. The house smells like heaven (at least Java's heaven) and ain't no fresher coffee in town (unless you go over and rap with the owner of Rodaks garage and Coffee Roaster in Fort Worth).

Regarding Starbucks: Don't Click Here - Charbucks Eyes Only! (http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/sbux.php) I'd advise everyone to heed the warnings before it is too late. Get off the grid! Get your own beans, your own roaster, your own adjustable conical burr grinder, and a quality brewing system and go underground. A vente caramel machiato is already over $4.00. Their stock is going through the roof and there will soon be a Charbucks on every street corner, every back alley, and every unclaimed zoned or unzoned lot in the country. Their plan for world domination is proceding apace. All our base belong to them. Resist we must. Brew free or die!

Happy brewing! :D

java the black

[java]

I'm interested!
Where can I order?

Ted
Try Daywalker's Kona Export and Custom Crafted Knife Emporium (kidding of course, but DW did send me some most excellent Jingle Bell Java blended coffee from his tropical home).

Search the web fror Coffee Roasters or Coffee beans and you will have a buttload of sources. There are also several supplies with stores on E-Bay. If you want to start your own roasting, Sweetmaria's (http://www.sweetmarias.com) has the most complete supply of books, instructions, roasters, and green beans to get you ramped up and jajammin' fer java. Ibought the Fresh Roast plus with four 2-pound samples of coffee for about $89.00 from them and have been a frequent customer for about 9 months now. Great selection and they ship pretty quickly. Not sure about shipping over to the Olde Parte of the Worlde but if you need help and want to go that direction, I'll be happy to help out. Royal Kona, what Daywalker sent me, sells blends, ground, and whole beans on their web site. Royal Kona: Coffee for Royalty (http://www.royalkonacoffee.com)

java the black

[vampyrewolf]

I've been drinking the haulalai estates 100% medium-dark...

have about a 2 pots or so of royal(and another cheap one that I ended up mixing) left, maybe 2 pots of peaberry, and a freshly opened 4oz of haulalai on the go right now...

fresh ground when I wake up(now that I'm not running out of the house at 5am), fresh brewed and doesn't get a chance to cool down.

[JD Spydo]

Say there "Java" I'll bet that "Jamacian Blue" I wrote about in my post right above yours is the same thing as that "Mountian Blue" you made reference to.
That Jamacian Blue even had a rich robust body to it that even the Kona didn't have. I'll bet they are the same coffee for sure. I got mine as a gift from a coffee store chain here locally called "GLORIA JEANS" coffee beans.
They probably just put a slightly different name on it for what ever reason.
I will also bet that these other coffees that you are telling us about are probably about $50 a pound or so. I would love to sample some of this premium stuff you talked about. Tell us a good source for this black gold. :)

[samosaurus]

Daywalker's Kona = :cool:

Sam

[java]

Say there "Java" I'll bet that "Jamacian Blue" I wrote about in my post right above yours is the same thing as that "Mountian Blue" you made reference to.
That Jamacian Blue even had a rich robust body to it that even the Kona didn't have. I'll bet they are the same coffee for sure. I got mine as a gift from a coffee store chain here locally called "GLORIA JEANS" coffee beans.
They probably just put a slightly different name on it for what ever reason.
I will also bet that these other coffees that you are telling us about are probably about $50 a pound or so. I would love to sample some of this premium stuff you talked about. Tell us a good source for this black gold. :)
It's known by most elite coffee fiends as Jamaican Blue Mountain. Suprisingly, the Australian Mountain Top XF only runs $8.10 per pound and $37.67 for a 5# bag of green beans from Sweet Marias. I haven't seen it sold except through roasters own stock so far. Blue Mountain and Kona are both pricy at $15.40 per pound for Kona Honaunau Peaberry #1 and $18.90 per pound for the BlueMountain from Sweet Marias. Mind that these are both green unroasted beans.

Most of the coffees I buy run between $3.50 and $5.00 per pound before roasting. The same coffees run $7.00 to 11.00 per pound at local supermarkets or stores like Gloria Jeans, CiCi's, or Starbucks after roasting. The thing about the roasted coffees is that over time the volatile oils that give coffee its flavors begin to deteriorate and loose flavor. You can tell that the coffees are old by the slightly rancid acrid smell - smells like a can of Folgers. Beans are best if used within a week or 10 days of roasting. You really should try roasting your own sometime. I gave a fresh roasted and ground sample of Java's Primo Roast to Sal at the last Spirit of Steel. Haven't heard how he liked it yet.


java the black

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha ALL!

So...is this my cue? :D

[vampyrewolf]

unless you like us talking about you all day :p

[JD Spydo]

Well "Java" if you could either post or send me a PM on how to get ahold of "Sweet Marias" I would appreciate it. At Gloria Jean's here locally I called them up last night and the Jamacian Blue runs right at $37.50 a pound. The prices you quoted sound a lot more feasable. Here in K. C. we get gouged on anything exotic. Also I have learned a trick ( I am sure it is old news to you) that if you put your coffee in the freezer it truly does stay fresher for some time. Thanks for the info dude!! :) :D :) :spyder:

[java]

At Gloria Jean's here locally I called them up last night and the Jamacian Blue runs right at $37.50 a pound.
:eek: :eek: :eek:


The prices you quoted sound a lot more feasable. Here in K. C. we get gouged on anything exotic. Also I have learned a trick ( I am sure it is old news to you) that if you put your coffee in the freezer it truly does stay fresher for some time. Thanks for the info dude!! :) :D :) :spyder:
Click on dis place! Sweetmaria's (www.sweetmarias.com) Great site to just kick back and learn about the basics and the advanceds about roastin' yer own! Suprising how easy it is to get started. :)

Gotta study for finals tonite. I'll check back when I get home to see what ya think. Enjoy the Coffee Quest!

java the black

[vampyrewolf]

Java... read your PM... figured it's easier to do it here than email since you spend enough time here.

[dialex]

Daywalker's Kona = :cool:

Sam
I second to that :)

[OutofGum]

Nice thing about living in NYC is that there are tons of specialty stores where you can get just about whatever kind of coffee you want. Some of it can be pricey though. I'm pretty partial to Kenyan AA, but I don't have near the same amount of coffee drinking / brewing experience as some people here (roast your own beans?!?!? whoa). I use my trusty french press.

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha ALL!!!

Okay...here's the deal...once the "damage" of the holiday season has subsided, and if ya want some Kona, send me a PM and we'll try to work something out...

LOL! Don't mind me, but I can't help but kinda LMAO when I think of that coffee I found NAMED: "Jingle Bell Java"!!! :D

Anyway, keep me posted ya Kona coffee fiends...er, fRiends!!! ;)
God bless!!!

[aero_student]

This week I'm heading to hawaii!

will be spending 8days there, 3 on the big island and 5 on maui.

I am going to pick up a bunch of coffee and drink even more. :D

hmm, what spydie to pack?

i'm thinking a calypso jr pe.

i plan on visiting my friends over at maui oma, www.hawaiicoffee.net

i also plan on waking up at o'dark hundred and watching sunrise at the top of hale aka la volcano. hmmm, thermos time!

[J Smith]

I keep hearing about all this great coffee but have yet to try any.I think I will do some looking around for some soon.
I think what has kept me away is the fact that I hate the strong bitter coffee that Starbucks sells,I can get that same taste by leaveing a pot of Folgers sitting over night and reheating it.

[java]

I keep hearing about all this great coffee but have yet to try any.I think I will do some looking around for some soon.
I think what has kept me away is the fact that I hate the strong bitter coffee that Starbucks sells,I can get that same taste by leaveing a pot of Folgers sitting over night and reheating it.
Jeff,

Starbucks is supposed to toss their coffee if it's an hour or more old. This doesn't always happen. The cleaning of the equipment for grinding and brewing does not seem to follow a set pattern from what I've noticed either. (I could be wrong) Other variables that creep in are things like brewing temp, the tamp (if you're doing espresso) the grind, and the amount of time the machine steeps the coffee as the machine ages and becomes less efficient. There are also some blends that produce a bitter cup and as the coffee ages after roasting, the oils change their chemical makeup and often impart a rancid bitter taste. Coffee is best if it is allowed to "rest" for 18 - 48 hours after roasting. This gives the beans time to release gases and volatile oils in the right amont for a good blend of flavor and aromas. (It is also why freshly roasted coffees are packed in bags with one-way valves. A tightly packed bag (even from Starbuck's) is probably a fresher roast. The fact that my trips to Starbuck's were journeys of extremely variable pleasure was the primary reason I began roasting my own green coffee beans. I can have the same varietal of coffee taste light with no bitter or acrid taste to full bodied with bright undertones and flavors all the way to a fresh-cremated bodied brew with tones of Mrs O'Leary's barn the next day and a deep-fried Firestone All-Weather radial aftertaste that is both heavy on the tongue and annonces its presence with the cloying bouguet remeniscent of roadside Pepe Le Pew who played one too many games of chicken with a fully laden Kenworth on a hot muggy Texas summer's eve. Once your brewing techniques are down, it's all about roast and grind.

Roasting yer own is the ultimate for a coffee fiend. Watch out for dad coffee - it's everywhere. :D