The three farms that make up the bulk of this year’s coffee selection, as usual, feature Kona Typica Coffee Trees. This is the historic type of coffee grown in Kona.

In recent years, several farms have been experimenting with differing Arabica varietals such as Geisha and Sl-34 as well as creative processing techniques. They offer expanded flavor profiles, and have been winning cupping contests worldwide as well as here in Kona. When Atsumi and I replanted our existing field we chose SL-34 for this reason.

This year, we were able to acquire some of this wonderful SL-34 coffee from our previous farm. It was processed using an innovative method called yeast-aided anaerobic fermentation. In this special type of washed processing, the fermentation is closely monitored to enhance the flavor profile. The farm that processed our coffee is the same one that sold us our SL-34 plants in the first place! Recently the coffee from this neighboring farm won top honors as the highest-priced American coffee in the world at the recent Dubai Coffee Auction. Our SL-34 is almost identical to theirs and it also cupped very closely to theirs in the November cupping contest here in Kona.

Here are notes from the formal cupping contest: “Peach, Lime, Lychee, Hibiscus, Cinnamon, Hazelnut, Chocolate.” While these specific descriptors are beyond our palate, the delightful mouthfeel and wonderful tropical fruit flavors were amazing. This coffee will be blended with our other three coffees, and we believe that the complexity and depth of flavors in this mix is some of the best that we have been able to offer.

If you want to try this unique Kona coffee on its own, it is available as Farm Select SL-34