Kona Coffee

 (Spring/Summer 2002) While driving along Mamalahoa Highway, the high and winding mountain road that traverses the Kona coffee belt, one can see a countless number of coffee farms. Some of these...

 (Spring/Summer 2002) As I hover over my young coffee trees, I think back nine years when I issued the first edition of Coffee Times magazine. At that time specialty coffee was...

 (Fall/Winter 2002/2003) Kona coffee orchard should not be haphazardly planned, planted, and maintained. A poorly designed and installed orchard would have limited production, high tree loss, poor fruit quality, short...

(Fall/Winter 2002/2003) In 1994, Kraig A. Lee and his father-in-law Rae F. Young ventured together to start Heavenly Hawaiian Farm on the slopes of Mt. Hualalai above KailukKona, Hawaii.

 (Spring/Summer 2003) When you can have great tasting coffee, and a high quality, high yielding, efficient, picturesque Kona coffee orchard why do some settle for less? If done right your...

 (Fall/Winter 2003-2004) Visiting Mountain Thunder Kona Coffee Plantation was like entering paradise. Varying sizes of Kona coffee trees adorned with succulent coffee cherries grew among towering hapu’u ferns and ohia trees. 

 (Fall/Winter 2003-2004) George Yasuda has been farming Kona coffee for decades and he takes as much pride in helping others establish and maintain successful coffee orchards as he does in...

 (Fall/Winter 2003-2004) Over the last four months I have experienced some of the most exciting times in my life as giant steps of growth and development have occurred at Blair Estate...

 (Spring/Summer 2004) With nearly 100 different varieties of coffee trees existing in the world today there is only one that has contributed to the famous reputation of Kona. 

 (Spring/Summer 2004) Throughout the past 175 years, Kona coffee farmers have tried many innovative techniques in an effort to successfully grow what many profess to be “the best coffee in the...

(Spring/Summer 2004) With only a few dabs of paint remaining (hip, hip, hurray) we’re proud to announce the opening of our farm visitor center. The coffee roaster is seasoned and in...

(Fall/Winter 2004-2005) The recent growth at Mountain Thunder Coffee Farm is dizzying to say the least. After winning 2 blue ribbon awards at the Kona Spring Blossom cupping competition Mountain Thunder...

 (Fall/Winter 2004-2005) Each living organism has basic requirements to perform optimally. On numerous occasions I have been asked this question, “where can we grow Kona coffee trees viably?” Here are...

 (Fall/Winter 2004-2005) For seven years, I was happily married to Joe Alban, an orthopedic surgeon, when one day in 1994, I found myself owning a Kona coffee farm with him. I...

 (Fall/Winter 2004-2005) Heavenly may be the best way to describe our experience of raising organic coffee in Kauai.

(Spring/Summer 2005) The norm of Hawaii’s land use is to remove all or most of the native trees in order to develop the land. The landscape of the beautiful mountain sides...

(Fall/Winter 2005-2006) Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation is, in a word, magical. In a fairyland of ohia and jungle vines, it is a ghostly oasis in the mist. Ohia branches become...

 (Fall/Winter 2005-2006) After four years of farming coffee, I have realized one thing holds true about cultivating this magical shrub. I should have planted more lychee!

 (2005) Up at 4:30 am, stumbling around my house, aware that folks living nearby are fast asleep. What am I doing up at this hour? This goes against the body's biological...