Bean fiends clamor for Kona
coffee
By Matt Sedensky
The Associated
Press
CAPTAIN COOK, Hawaii -- It started as a
backyard business for Marin Artukovich, a few acres of coffee
planted high above the coastline here on the slopes of a
volcano.
Today, just seven years later,
his Koa Coffee Plantation on the Big Island's Kona coast
comprises 80 acres of coffee trees on seven parcels of land.
It yielded about 700,000 pounds last year, and employs 45
people during the busiest part of the season.
It's a far cry from Artukovich's first
year in business, when 38,000 pounds of the shiny red cherries
holding the beloved bean were picked by family and visiting
friends.
"The demand for Kona coffee's
gotten better and better," said Artukovich, whose beans are
considered among the best in Hawaii, the only state with
commercial coffee production. "We didn't envision that."
Coffee has been grown here for nearly
two centuries, but demand for the pricey beans from Kona is
swelling.
In tourist shops, most Kona
coffee is sold in blends containing just 10 percent of beans
grown here. Bags of the pure stuff typically sell for $20 to
$25 a pound here, and can go for $40 or more on the mainland.
Never mind that Kona coffee is among
the world's more expensive brews. Aficionados are driven to
Kona coffee's unique taste, and with supply short, there's
barely enough to go around.
"It's like
a well-aged bourbon or whiskey. It's different," said Tom
Greenwell, owner of Greenwell Farms, which has 22 acres of
coffee. "You can find other coffees similar, but they leave
you hanging at the end of the cup."
Some 650
coffee farms occupy a 20-mile-long stretch along the Big
Island's western coast, set amid fields of hardened lava with
panoramic views of the Pacific. Tourists flock here for tours
and to snatch up bags of beans.
"We're
becoming the Napa Valley of coffee," Artukovich said.
Kona coffee is strong yet smooth, a
full-bodied brew, sometimes with a fruity hint. Coffee thrives
here in Kona because the soil is perfect, as is the rainfall.
Ample sunlight comes in the course of the day, but clouds
manage to block out afternoon rays that are too strong.
Kona is home to an estimated 93 percent
of the Big Island's total acreage of coffee crops, producing
an estimated 96 percent of the island's coffee.
Now, Kona beans have found their way
back onto the shelves of Starbucks -- all of the nearly 4,200
company-owned stores in North America. It's the first time in
seven years the coffee giant has offered Hawaii's choicest
brew, and its reappearance can mean only one thing, farmers
here say -- even more demand.
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