Alee601 Senior Member Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 13 Location: Bowling Green, Ohio Expertise: I live coffee
Vac Pot: Bodum, Aeorpress
Posted Wed Apr 2, 2008, 9:11am Subject: Jamaica Blue Mountain/Kona
I was talking to a local roaster recently about not being able to find JBM or Kona, freshly roasted in my local area. The roaster was telling me that he thought JBM's and Kona are pretty over-rated, and to get the best beans he's have to charge more than people in the area want to pay. What do other coffeegeeks think of this? Are the beans over-rated? Are any of you unable to get beans like these roasted locally?
JBMs are way overrated. It's all talk. I wish that the sentence, "JBM is a figment of your imagination", would flash for an instant on Coffeegeek sometimes.
A nice Kona is rarely on the market.
I prefer supple Kenyan jam, gingery Yirgacheffe, or a nice El Salvadoran, which all happen to cost less! Kenyan coffee is to Kona coffee... like Kona, Hawaii vacation is to Rockville, Maryland vacation.
I recently found a roaster in Williamsburg, VA who offered both JMB and Kona as in-house roasts. I purchased a quarter-pound of each (c. $50/lb JMB and $35/lb Kona). However, no matter how I make it, the two varieties taste rather bland.
Overall, I prefer my LaMinita much more as a robust bean.
In their optimal form, these are both very fine coffees. They both tend to have an "island" flavor profile, which is mild, smooth, and balanced. They don't offer much in the way of distinctiveness, however, but because of that they can be pleasing to a wider percentage of drinkers.
JBM, in my opinion, is quite overrated though. There are quite a few problems with this designation of coffees, all the way from the tree to the cup. A very good (ongoing) thread on this very topic can be found here. Suffice it to say that, at $40 a pound, you tend to get a crapshoot at what might be good to okay coffee, but often you don't. Hype, greed, and poor quality control tend to get in the way.
Kona tends to be better managed in almost all ways; there's still some hype but it's ignored more easily. The market is more transparent, the growers take their product seriously, excellence is encouraged and rewarded, and there's less artificial hype. However, the going price seems to stay at anywhere between $14 to $20/lb green. Only you can decide whether this is worth a coffee that costs 1/3 of that at $5 to $6/lb, such as a fine Sumatra or Brazilian. In my opinion the factor of 3 difference is not worth it, but I occasionally splurge either for myself or for a friend as a gift.
KevinR Senior Member Joined: 2 May 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Clawson, MI Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Bialetti Erika Drip: Bodum Chamford
Posted Fri May 2, 2008, 9:53am Subject: Re: Jamaica Blue Mountain/Kona
Even though I've never tried those beans before but I knew that the local roaster in Chicago probably has them. I couldn't find the roaster around since I moved to Michigan. I used to buy it from coffee and tea exchange in chicago
I'm surprised no one has brought up Kauai coffee yet! I tend to agree that JBM and Kona are over-rated. They don't cost what they do because their something really unique and special. They cost that much because they are smooth, pleasant, and come from fairly small growing regions, thus limited supply. I will say though that we have finally found a Kona that we really like. It's grown by a farmer who lives in a treehouse with no electricity! Anyhow, back to the Kauai. It's Hawaiian and sports a similar flavor profile to Kona... at a fraction of the cost. It's still on the pricey side, but nothing like Kona or JBM. The growing region is larger than Kona, and tends to be a softer bean, from a lower elevation. We've found it can be tough to roast a small batch without tipping. Plus, like Kona, it's grown in the USA so we know the workers are making better than Fair Trade wages.
Cheers!
Peter Grandstaff Coffee Roaster & IT Guru, Joe Van Gogh, Inc. www.joevangogh.com
I'm surprised no one has brought up Kauai coffee yet! I tend to agree that JBM and Kona are over-rated. They don't cost what they do because their something really unique and special. They cost that much because they are smooth, pleasant, and come from fairly small growing regions, thus limited supply. I will say though that we have finally found a Kona that we really like. It's grown by a farmer who lives in a treehouse with no electricity! Anyhow, back to the Kauai. It's Hawaiian and sports a similar flavor profile to Kona... at a fraction of the cost. It's still on the pricey side, but nothing like Kona or JBM. The growing region is larger than Kona, and tends to be a softer bean, from a lower elevation. We've found it can be tough to roast a small batch without tipping. Plus, like Kona, it's grown in the USA so we know the workers are making better than Fair Trade wages.
If you really think that the flavour profile of Kauai coffee is similar to high-grown Kona you're in serious need of a tastebud transplant. The coffees aren't even the same varietals (Kona is Typica, Kauai is red & yellow Caturra) let alone grown under the same conditions. The best Konas are worth every penny, but IMHO you only get the best when you purchase direct from the plantation.
And before you ask, yes, I've been to several Kona plantations and the Kauai plantation, and tasted the coffees at the farms.
If you really think that the flavour profile of Kauai coffee is similar to high-grown Kona you're in serious need of a tastebud transplant. The coffees aren't even the same varietals (Kona is Typica, Kauai is red & yellow Caturra) let alone grown under the same conditions. The best Konas are worth every penny, but IMHO you only get the best when you purchase direct from the plantation.
And before you ask, yes, I've been to several Kona plantations and the Kauai plantation, and tasted the coffees at the farms.
Yes, they are different! But they both sport something of an island profile IMHO. You can get a lot of flavors out of Kona that you'll never find in Kauai and vice versa, but if someone is looking for a smooth, island style coffee and they don't want to drop a lot of money on Kona then I still think Kauai is a good alternative. Granted they are grown at different elevations and are different varietals. When I use the term similar I don't mean identical, if I had I would have said Kauai is just like Kona... and if I said that I would surely volunteer for a taste bud transplant! And yes, our Master Roaster has been to Kona and Kauai plantations. We buy our Kona directly from the farmer, sans middleman. It's the only green coffee we get that comes via UPS.
edit: I guess what I meant was that they satisfied similar desires rather than having similar flavor profiles.
Peter Grandstaff Coffee Roaster & IT Guru, Joe Van Gogh, Inc. www.joevangogh.com
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