Kona Coffee is one of the most beloved coffees in the world. Renowned for its mild, yet rich and complex caramel flavor, it’s a hugely popular variety of coffee with a rich history. Here are a few important things that you didn’t know about your Kona.The “Kona” Label is Highly Regulated

Kona Coffee is named for the Kona region of the big island of Hawaii where it is grown. The rich volcanic coils and unique climate combine to produce a truly special cup of coffee, and it wasn’t long after the region started exporting coffee in the 19th century that it began to make a name for itself. In order to turn a quick profit, many other coffee merchants simply slapped a Kona label on their coffee and raised the price. In order to protect the product, real Kona coffee is now defined only as coffee that’s grown in the Kona belt. Even coffee grown in nearby areas on the big island can’t simply adopt the Kona label.Most “Kona Coffee” isn’t Pure

While coffee now does actually need to contain Kona to be labeled as such, most of it that you’ve drunk was most likely labeled as a “Kona blend”. This label is tricky, in that it sounds like there’s a lot of Kona in your coffee, but in reality it’s probably only about 10%.Many visitors to Hawaii express surprise at the unique and delicious flavor of a cup of real pure Kona coffee, because most people have never had it. To get pure Kona you’ll often need to specifically make sure that it’s 100% by custom ordering it from a merchant or by getting it from a grower in Hawaii.Kona Coffee is Family Farmed

Like most other coffee plantations, Kona started out as a colonial enterprise. The workers who grew coffee were mostly Japanese immigrants, who worked in relatively unenviable conditions until 1899, when the coffee market collapsed.At this point the plantation owners were forced to lease their land out to their workers in order to stay afloat, and the result was many smaller, family-run coffee farms. This tradition continues to this day, with small family growers still producing the vast majority of the local coffee. This helps to ensure both the quality of the coffee, and that Kona is one of the most ethically sourced coffees in the world.Hawaii Is the Only US State that Produces Coffee

All of the coffee you’ve ever drunk was grown in a region of the world called the Bean Belt. The Bean Belt is the region of the planet that’s located within 23 1/2 degrees of the Equator. While Florida almost touches it, Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that’s located inside it, making it the only place that’s suited to coffee production. That means that Kona, along with a few other Hawaiian coffees are the only “domestic” coffees on the market, everything else is a foreign import.