It's all about Kona Coffee

Website is back up.........

2011-10-17T18:11:00.001-10:00

Thanks for your patience and those phone calls.

Website troubles.......email me @ konalisacoffee@yahoo.com if you need me.

2011-10-17T14:22:00.001-10:00

Our website appears to be having troubles. It has been reported to the server but if you need anything please email me at konalisacoffee@yahoo.com. I will post here when all s up and ready again.

Interested?

2011-10-12T17:24:00.000-10:00

If you have the passion for coffee that we do, take a look at our listinghttp://www.hawaiilife.com/articles/2011/10/kona-lisa-coffee-farm

Recent scarcity of 100% Kona coffee

2011-04-15T07:39:00.005-10:00

Yesterday I received an email from a larger Kona coffee company here on the island asking to buy some of our green coffee, especially peaberry or extra fancy. We have green coffee available but we are saving it for our many fine customers. As you know the coffee you receive from Kona Lisa has peaberry in it along with every bean we have picked on our farm last season. Some farms will shake out the peaberry and extra fancy and sell it.

Our goal to to service our customers with the best Estate grown coffee possible. Our supply of beans has been short this season but we tried to prepare for this. We only sold to our current customers this season not trying to add new as we knew something had to give. We are also roasting in smaller batches and only when orders are received. Plus we are making sure we save coffee for our coffee club members. This all takes a bit more care and time but is truly worth it because we value our business and especially our customers.

So far this production year looks to be a plentiful season. We will be busy harvesting in the fall and preparing those rich ripe cherries to be the special coffee we always serve because we want to remain the small boutique coffee plantation you've always expected. Thanks, or more appropriately mahalo, to everyone for helping make Kona Lisa Coffee what she is.

Updates and inventory status

2011-04-13T22:27:00.000-10:00

SPRING UPDATES or what’s going on lately at your favorite gourmet coffee farm.

Plus ADVANCE NOTICE of delayed shipping dates and low inventory

The rains have been falling and our coffee trees are healthy and full of maturing green coffee cherry. We are happy to herald in this good news as we predict this years crop will be our best yet both in amount and flavors. Ron has finished selectively pruning all of our trees and is now on a round of what we call ‘suckering’. I always wondered why it’s called suckering and the best explanation I can give is that Ron will now persuade the trees to only produce the best and strongest branches to bear coffee beans by pulling off weak sprouts and steering the best ones to grow vertically and strong. (He’s good at this you know).

That is the good news. Sorely, last years crop was not as abundant due mostly to the drought. Yes, you may have heard of new pests recently introduced to this island but we are getting them well under control by using green gardening methods. Quick attention and sanitary gardening procedures helped us manage them.

Consequently, we are out of stock of a few of our coffee items. Our goal is to continue to provide the coffees to you our customers but we could run out of Kona Lisa’s beans before next years crop is ready.
To give the best service we know please be advised of these dates and inventory schedules.

1. No shipping from May 16 thru July 4th. Shipping will resume on July 5th. This means you will definitely receive your coffee if you order it by May 16, 2011. (Except coffee club members. See #3)

2. We foresee this years coffee crop lasting well into August and maybe September but blossoming was late this year and we predict that our first pick will not be until October. We may need to take back orders at this time. We will notify you if and when this happens.

3. Rest assured all coffee club members will continue to receive their coffees monthly. We plan for this and that’s why you joined.

Feel free to contact us at anytime with your questions.
Konalisacoffee@yahoo.com
Store@konalisacoffee.com
808-328-9941

Mahalo nui loa &
A hui hou,
Mary & Ron Lake
Kona Lisa Coffee

Cruel But Fair: Waves of Hawaii by Clark Little

2011-02-28T16:39:00.000-10:00

Cruel But Fair: Waves of Hawaii by Clark Little

Everyone wants to know "how to make the BEST cup of coffee".

2011-01-01T18:01:00.027-10:00

Now since you have discovered the BEST coffee you want to know how to make the best cup of coffee there is. We will then call it Kona Lisa Coffee nirvana. You will, no doubt, believe that we have 7 coffee makers in our little coffee shack. We do use the drip coffee makers on Saturday mornings to brew the coffee into pump pots to take to the market. We sell many cups of coffee there and also give out many taste samples with excellent feedback from our customers. I'll always suggest a drip coffee maker for large jobs, that is, as long as you are using a good 100% Kona coffee. It still will not be bitter and your large gathering will appreciate that you care to serve a good cup of joe.

The next step is to enhance that cup of coffee for your own and your friends taste pleasures. Many of our customers use a French Press and I have two or those. A small one just for myself and a larger one that will serve up to 4 tourists. I'll make that for you when you do a coffee tour of the farm. I also find that I can brew myself a quick cup of coffee with my large cone shaped Randwyck (Melita type), set on top of my large 16 oz ceramic coffee cup. Using melita probably #4 brown filters I measure 16oz of fresh water into my measuring cup and microwave for about 2.5 mins. Whatever way you can get the temp to about 200 degrees. Pour it over a slightly wet filter and wa la a tasty rich morning brew.

My newest favorite is an AeroPress by Aerobie. You can have an espresso, a latte, or as I like it, a Americano cup of coffee in about 20 seconds after I heat the water to only about 175. - http://www.smarthome.com/91320/Aerobie-Inc-80R08-AeroPress-Coffee-and-Espresso-Maker/p.aspx

This link - http://tinyurl.com/2acwdes
demonstrates a neat way to brew with a Chemex brewer. I don't happen to have this one as it's made of glass and in my small kitchen, if I had one it would only be a matter of time.

A neighbor brews his coffee with a Technivor. This machine is pricey. Coffee tastes great but I like the simpler, faster, tastier methods. The Technivor is described as the only drip type brewer to heat the water to the correct brewing temp. To me grinding the coffee just before brewing lets the flavor escape into my cup instead of into the air, ruling out the newer Keuring K-cup method.

I'm sure I have only touched on a limited number of ways to brew that great cup of java. I've shared my favorites now I'd like to hear from you.

Summer rains

2010-06-18T10:28:00.003-10:00

The summer rains seem to be here. At least in the evenings. The last few nights we've been getting some light rains and the beans love it. Our beans are in their growing stage and need to be juicy to pull in all those delicious Kona coffee flavors. Today we looked at them and they are green and glossy. Their next step is just to grow larger and keep taking on the moisture that our summer rains give.

This is always the watch and wait season and also the season that we can take a little time off the island to visit with family. So we are doing just that. Because of the dryness of our past winter and spring we are expecting our crop to come in later this year. Normally when we return from the mainland we have a small first crop to pick but this year we think the ripening of our crop is set back at least a month. So those beans we looked at today have awhile to grow and ripen, probably 4-6 weeks. Grandchildren are coming back with us. So they will be just in time to learn how to pick wonderful red Kona coffee beans.

Kopi Luwak

2010-06-08T11:42:00.006-10:00

Kopi Luwak coffee now seems to suffer the same problems that Kona coffee has endured for many years, fake and misleading labeling and packaging. First, what is Kopi Luwak anyway? You know, the coffee that sells for $120.00 per half pound and is retrieved from the excrement, or for a more pop culture word 'the poop', of a civet. Kopi Luwak has become popular in upscale coffee shops and resturants not only in the mainland USA but worldwide. You saw Jack Nicholson drinking it in 'Bucket List'.

One attribute of Kopi Luwak coffee is purported to be that the beans are fermented in the civets digestive system which gives the coffee it's delicate flavor. Our Kona coffee is also fremented but we do it the old fashioned way. After hand picking the cherry (ripe beans) and pulping them, we give them a warmish water bath, letting the sugary substances ferment overnight, something like how fine wines get fermented. The beans are then rinsed and set out to dry.

On a search on Amazon I found a 7oz package of Kopi Luwak coffee for $45.00. Upon reading the package label it said 2% Kopi Luwak and the rest other arabica blends. Aha, BLENDS!! Sounds familiar to me. A 10% blend of Kona coffee (with the rest other arabica blends) selling at $8.00 for 7oz is no more a bargain than the fake Kopi Luwak.

Kopi Luwak is supposed to be marvelous but I don’t have the fortitude to test it. I’ll just stick with my 100% homegrown gentle hand processed Kona Lisa Coffee.

Coffee Brewing Tips

2010-05-30T13:29:00.003-10:00

A customer at our Saturday market asked us how we brewed our coffee because she didn't think her coffee tasted as good when she brought it home and brewed some up. It would have been nice if I could have told her about the magic potion I sprinkle in each pot to make tastings to our Saturday morning crew so delectable, but this is really what I suggested.

Eventhough Hawaii has very good tasting water in most parts of the island, I use filtered water right from my refrigerator door. Coffee is very delicate and some water components can interfere with the flavors you like. So, if you are not experiencing rich coffee flavors in your brewed pot try clearer fresh cool water.

Keep your pots and brewing equipment fresh and clean. Build up accumulates rather quickly and can also interfere with a great tasting cup of coffee. The good news is that it's really easy to keep your pots ready to accept a fresh brew. Just a drop of Ivory liquid swished in the pot and rinsed is good after daily use.

Today I did the thorough clean of all our brew and pump pots. We take 4 pump pots to the Market every Sat. so today I ran a mixture of my favorite easy cleaner, BrewRite, thru our brew pots. I, then, poured that hot solution into our four pump pots and let it set for no more than 5 minutes. After pressing the pumper a few times and swishing the solution around I rinsed them and they are now air drying. I love how the pots look like new again inside and out and sparkle as they will be ready to accept our fresh brews next Saturday morning.

It makes it all worth it when our first customer arrives and sips that great 100% Kona Lisa Coffee and goes "just what I needed, this is definitely the best coffee I have ever had".

Our Kona coffee is so smooth, slightly sweet with a nutty flavor and absolutely no bitterness that you don't want to confuse the senses with any extraneous matter. So those pots get washed and wiped down after use and I do a thorough clean about each month.

Remember your Kona Lisa coffee now gets brewed the way you like it and I suggest that you may not need as much coffee as you are used to using from mainland store bought coffees. So try using less and adjust until your taste buds tell you you've got it right. My measurments consist of 2/3 of a cup of ground coffee to a twelve cup pot. Tell me what works for you.

Facebook

2010-05-06T12:18:00.002-10:00

You can now text "like KonaLisaCoffee" to 32665 if you are not already a fan.
You can see us on facebook by logging in at www.facebook.com/KonaLisaCoffee.
Just a few ways for you to interact and see what is going on at the farm and how each delicious crop is progressing.

Our facebook page

2010-04-19T10:49:00.005-10:00

An easy way to keep updated on Kona Lisa'a coffee is to join in with other fans on our facebook page. www.facebook.com/konalisacoffee
Also today there is a newer easier way per the facebook gang
Introducing the Like button
Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site.
Just thought I'd pass this on.

New visitor to the farm

2010-03-03T17:07:00.000-10:00

We get all kinds of visitors to the farm but this is the first time we have seen him and amazingly were able to photograph him too. Yes, the Jackson chameleon paid us a visit today. Doesn't he look smashing in his lime green suit as he inspects our coffee trees.

Rain

2010-01-27T15:25:00.005-10:00

Being away from the farm can cause a bit of anxiety. Watching all the foliage in the western side of the island disappear also underscores how important rain is for our tropical environment. Those facets were preying on our minds as we wondered if the dryness would continue while we left the farm in others hands. So, today it was nice to see this gentle rain dampening all around us. Weatherman, Guy Hagi, had said the high pressure area north of the state would not make it down to this island. Guy, we are glad you were wrong just this once. The whole state is in a drought but I hear that Maui and the Big Island are experiencing the worse of it. It's nice to leave knowing that there is such a thing as rain on the Big Island or was that just a practice for what we will see in New Zealand?

Our trees will be ready for pruning when we return and Ron has been faithfully irrigating. Mother Nature just needs to let loose of her moisture more often.

Fire!!

2009-12-30T13:40:00.005-10:00

It's over now but that was about tooooo much excitement for me. Ron was finally taking some time to relax between drying and raking coffee. He was looking towards the ocean for whales when smoke arose from the fields below. He yelled at me that he was taking the Gator down for a look. When he phoned me back we decided a 911 call to the fire department was next. There are houses down there but you enter from another road about 1/4 mile down and I was having a hard time explaining to dispatch how to get there so I met the fire truck at the corner and directed them. Meanwhile Ron was cutting the water line to the irrigation to get buckets down there. A few pickers were around and they help tote water. Another neighbor helped the fire trucks navigate to the location as Ron said it was right behind a new house built there a few years ago and could be imminent danger to them.

Endless water is availble if you can get to it and that's when the helicopter arrived. The first fire truck was running short on water and a second had arrived so it looked pretty well under control but with many hot spots. The helicopter headed towards the ocean dipped an extremely large vessel in the ocean and headed back. With a sploosh it opened and dropped it's load over the first hot spot. After several trips our air fire force had the job done.

I'm sure I'll read about the theories in the paper tomorrow. We have some ideas but will hold our speculation until after the investigation. The fire didn't start on our property but near it. We lost 60 coffee trees or so but feel it could have been a lot worse if Ron had not taken a break to look for those whales. And NO (don't anyone ask) that is not how we usually get roasted coffee!

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

2009-12-23T10:30:00.005-10:00

.....that's Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! From our farm to you and thanks for making our season bright!

We are still picking coffee. After the good rain the other day we have some our crop ripening again. We lost quite a bit from the drought this fall. No rain for 2 months does not do well for the coffee trees nor the beans.

Coffee is all packaged as we finally managed to get all the Christmas orders out. Since many requested ground coffee we were able to find a used commercial grinder for sale. We purchasd it last week and will now be able to provide ground coffee much faster and fresher. And best of all it will be easier for me to package. Another positive is that it has several grind levels and you will be able to request the grind you like all the way from espresso to press pot.

Honu Kai B&B, one of the local bed and breakfasts that serves our coffee orders 5# at a time. I am happy to annouce that we will be offering these 5# bags on our website after the new year. For a limited time we will offer them @ $112.00 and that includes free shipping.

Our 2008-09 crop is sold out!

2009-11-24T13:07:00.005-10:00

We have been feverishly working on the 2009-10 crop lately. Just as last years crop, this years has been pulped, washed and dried into parchment. The beautiful color of the dried parchment is a tawny to golden and the beans quietly rest in our humidity controlled grainpro bags. July was our first pick, so that is the parchment we will begin using for our green bean as we prepare to roast. Three to four months is just the right amount of time for the parchment to age to a point that produces the intense flavors of our roasted coffees. So with a clang and shuffle we are now onto producing more of your favorite smooth and rich coffees. And the circle goes on because after the rain last week we saw some stray coffee blossoms here and there. We see picking in our future called the 2010-11 crop.

Heads up on last day to Christmas shop

2009-10-30T16:09:00.006-10:00

We roast our coffee on an as need basis so you can receive your coffee freshly packaged right after roasting. To serve our all our customers we need to have all our orders by DECEMBER 12, 2009 in order to get them roasted, packaged and shipped to your door in time for Christmas. Please keep this date in mind. Eventhough the coffee bags we use are mylar with a oneway valve and do keep the coffee fresh for 3 months plus, our goal is to get that coffee to you as soon after packaging as possible. Our Holiday orders are coming in now. Count how many on your gift list you can fill by just one order of freshly roasted Kona Lisa Coffee. Remember to get the order in no later than DECEMBER 12, 2009.

Couldn't have said it better myself

2009-10-11T15:21:00.006-10:00

Found this in the NG Drving Guides to America, California And Nevada and Hawaii edition page 154.
"Only one state in the U.S. grows Coffee--Hawaii--and the best comes from the Kona district of the Big Island. In fact, conoisseurs rank this arabica coffee among the world's top brews. A missionary planted the first trees in Kona around 1828. The growing conditions were perfect--rich volcanic soil, an elevation above 1,200 feet, cool breezes, light rains. In springtime, slopes are blanketed with white blossoms, aptly named Kona Snow. Between September and January, field workers harvest cherry red berries. Coffee's valuable part is the seed--the coffee bean. Each year, a tree produces only enough beans to make a single pound of roasted coffee. But brewed up, that coffee is as pure and intoxicating as sunshine."

Alex

2009-08-14T14:16:00.000-10:00

Alex is our dry miller. He takes our beans from the parchment stage to green for us just before the roasting process. Last week Alex gave us, we felt, the greatest compliment on our coffee. After milling the parchment he ran his hands through the green bean and scooped up several handfuls of the beans. He said "this is what good coffee is. Your coffee is a very vibrant green, all one color and very hard. This will roast exceptionally well with no broken beans or off color beans. All this makes for a very fresh, tingly, and tasty cup of coffee." Ron needed this encouragement as this season is coming in slow and he is spending a lot of time sorting through the beans as they dry. He picks out all dark or discolored beans and throws them out. We sort again the next day and remove any white or hollow beans. We are glad to report that what we call, self quality control, pays off. This is what makes our coffee just one step above. Also the coffee Alex is speaking to is last years crop. It takes that long to let the flavors partake of the richness in each bean. Lastly, but not unimportant, is the storage process. Alex says as long as we store the coffee/parchment properly and keep the humidity low and even it's better to age. That is what we try to do,and our coffee according to Alex is remarkable because of it. To be clear, storing parchment is what we do, not green. Green bean has a much shorter flavor span and needs to be roasted in a reasonable amount of time. We keep no coffee green. We take it to a roast the same day it is milled which is our commitment to bring the most flavorful Kona coffee to our customers.

Picking Season

2009-07-24T15:45:00.000-10:00

Picking season has begun. We have bright crimson cherry and have picked over 1000 lbs. this week. The trees seem to have beans in multiple various stages of ripening so it looks like a long picking season this year. This probably doesn't mean a bumper crop it just means the beans will ripen in smaller stages. Last year we had a terrific winter blossom one day in February and thus had the fruit ripening in a shorter period of time. This year we had more blossoms at many different times. In fact the other day we had trees with ripe cherry, green cherry, little buds going into bean and a blossom all on one tree. We thought what has mother nature come up with this season. But then this year we had more rain in the winter. We called it our rainy, dry season. Coffee loves rain and likes to blossom after a nice winter rain. So here we are with possibly 145 pounds of roasted coffee because as you know it takes 7 pounds of cherry to produce 1 pound of delicious Kona coffee.

Irrigation

2009-06-01T18:50:00.004-10:00

This years weather can be describe as, "we had a wet, dry season and now we are on to the dry, wet season." In Kona the dry season is our beautiful months of fall thru winter. We had ample rains thru this season this year. Now we are into Kona's wetter season, supposedly. This is why Kona coffee has grown so well here for over a hundred years. All the rest of the state and it's islands has wet winters and drier sunny summers. The Kona area has the opposite with beautiful sunny winters and wetter spring and summers to enable the coffee to grow juicy and plump and ripen. So far this spring, no rain. Oh, it sprinkles some now and then but we seem to be nearing drought conditions. A couple times this week and again today Ron ran our irrigation. I'm not sure how many zones we have, it's at least 5, so Ron was on a schedule from one part of the farm to the other, twisting and turning valves and giving those luscious beans their drink of water. The trees and the beans look great and are a bright shiny green now. The rains will come, July and August was very rainy last year, so I'm looking forward to that. But right now we will continue to irrigate as we saw one or two lonely little beans turn red the other day. It won't be long.

Juicy rich coffee beans

2009-05-10T18:37:00.008-10:00

These beans or cherry as we call them are about 3 months from ripe. They need to become the lovely red full flavored cherry before we snatch them. Just wanted you to know how well they are progressing.

That perfect cup of coffee

2009-05-07T20:07:00.003-10:00

Kona is where you will find that perfect cup of coffee. All of Kona Lisa's coffee is picked by hand. Even some of the coffee is picked by Ron. Here I'll fill you in on what goes on at the farm as we are preparing the 'cherry' for it's journey to your cup. Cherry is what the coffee fruit containing the bean is called when it is still on the trees. So we pick 'cherry' and only red cherry. Coffee ripens slowly and unevenly on the tree therefore we must pick the same tree several times during picking season. Picking season, by the way, is roughly from Aug-Nov each year at our farm. To keep that cup of coffee light, fruity and chocolaty you need to process that cherry the same day it's picked. We do not let it sit overnight before pulping, so during picking season dinner waits. We pulp that lovely red skin off and let the bean ferment in water overnight. The cherry pulp makes good fertilizer too. Next morning Ron checks the fermenting tank to make sure the fermenting process has completed. He rubs the bean making sure the slimy, sugaring coating is dissolving, then the beans get thoroughly rinsed and spread out on our drying deck. The first day we rake those beans hourly and then daily for the next seven days. This also the time we get down on our hands and knees and pick out and discard any bean that even looks like it should not be in a perfect cup of coffee. At this point your coffee only smells like fresh grain. With good sunshine, yes your cup of coffee is sun dried, Ron will bring his grain meter out to check the moisture content of those dried beans, which are now called parchment. They are called parchment because they are like a peanut with a protective light coating or shell on them. If they have reached the optimum dryness for storing gourmet coffee, about 11%, we pick them up and load them into humidity controlled grain bags for storage. This is the point where your cup of coffee relaxes, smooths it flavor out and waits for you. Kona Lisa does not take her beans to green until then. When you order or we take our coffee up to the Saturday Keauhou market is when parchment gets milled to green and roasted. Our goal is to bring you one of the freshest cups of coffee available and it takes seven pounds of picked cherry to produce one pound of fresh roasted coffee for that perfect cup. That's how we do it and we wouldn't do it any other way.

Your coffee is brewing!

2009-04-20T12:43:00.003-10:00

Here's what next falls cup of coffee is lookin' like. We've have ample rains, the beans are maturing nicely, still green. They are not ahead or behind schedule, just right! These beans will need to ripen to yellow, blush, then red before they are picked but I am already yearning for the wonderful flavors they will produce.

The season progresses

2009-03-15T12:02:00.001-10:00

What I mean is that coffee blossoms are abundant today. After a good few days of rain last week we were expecting this. Perhaps it'll be biggest plantation blossom of the year. Oh, we have had several sporadic blossoms in various parts of the field but this one is the largest so far. The gauge is that coffee cherry will ripen in 210 days after a blossom. This is give or take a week or so on either side depending on spring/summer weather conditions. We had a few very early blossoms from Nov-Jan so picking will start slow near the end of July but it looks like our heaviest picking will be in October this year, much later than has been recorded for this farm in recent years. In fact in the 2005 season they had a very early pick and had new season parchment ready in August.

We had a good season last year and dried all our cherry. This is contrary to this farms practices from earlier years. They sold quite a bit of cherry. So we now believe we have enough parchment to continue with our green bean supply until the new season comes in this year. Having green bean available to our customers means that we'll be able to roast fresh Kona coffee for our customers weekly for our market and on demand for our internet customers. For that we are greatful and for todays blossom we are also greatful. Always feel free to contact us at www.konalisacoffee.com for updates.

2009-03-09T16:46:00.000-10:00

This years crop

2009-03-09T14:13:00.000-10:00

We have beans ripening already for this summers crop. If you visit be sure to email us at konalisacoffee@yahoo.com for an update.