Hawaii Kona XF Darnall Estate Typica

The Darnall's excellent Typica is back, and this time we've secured their "XF" quality, which is the highest grade recognized by the Hawaiian Department of Agricultural. It refers to both the size of the bean ("screen size"), and the amount of allowable defects in the green. Kona Coffee is grown on the western slopes of the Big Island of Hawaii near the active volcanoes Mauna Loa and Hualalai. That's where you'll find Pam and Ted Darnall's coffee estate, above the small coastal village of Holualoa. The 42 acre Darnall estate is planted in Typica, a variety so common in Kona that it's synonymous with the "Kona" name. While the Typica grown today can be traced back to the late 1800's by way of Guatemala, coffee was first introduced to Kona in the 1820's from Brazil. It wasn't long after this that Pam's great grandfather established agricultural roots in the Kona region farming cattle, pineapple, and eventually coffee. According to Ted and Pam, ever since they started dating, they've dreamed of carrying on the family tradition. They finally fulfilled this dream in 2023 when the current farm site went up for sale. The original owners did not process their own cherries, instead selling to a local wholesaler, which is quite common. The Darnalls have decided to take a more hands-on approach, establishing the "Darnall Estate" name by managing the harvest and processing the coffee themselves, and selling direct. This "XF" lot is 19 screen size, which is similar to Maracaturra, and the larger examples of Pacamara, if you've tried them. Some grinders have a hard time processing large coffee quickly, and just requires a little patience and perhaps some physical encouragement to push toward the burrs. The coffee has a delicate wet process profile, though technically the process style is more like a wet process/honey hybrid. They depulp the cherry and most of the fruit, soak the seeds in tanks for a day, and then move it to the drying patio.