Kona Kowali Estate, Second Roast

I have been sick for the past week and a half or so, hence the lack of updates. I don't much care for coffee when I am fighting a cold, so I generally either don't drink it at all, or otherwise I roast something nondescript since I can't taste it anyway.

Besides being ill, work has been more awful than usual lately, so I decided to roast up something special this week to make me feel better. I had a half pound of this Kona coffee left over, so I gave it a whirl. If you remember, I talked about this one before. At that time, I wasn't thrilled with it at a lighter roast. This time around I took it darker, to a Full City roast. Poking around, it seems like general consensus for island coffee is that it works better at this roast level, or perhaps even a tad into second crack.

Here is the profile:


What a difference more roast makes for this bean! There is an intense maltiness that I love; if you enjoy chocolate malts made with high quality ice cream and real malted milk powder, you will have a good idea of what is going on in the cup. It is incredibly rich and complex; a very satisfying cup. Of course, it is still way overpriced for what you get, but I am glad that I at least found a better roast to accentuate this coffee's character.

Kona Kowali Estate

Believe it or not, I have never roasted a Kona coffee. Sure, I have had it here and there at coffee establishments, both in its blended form (people capitalizing on the Kona name while using ridiculously small percentages of the actual beans), as well as single-origin brews from reputable roasters. My reaction has always been, more or less "I don't get it". This stuff is seriously expensive, and my reaction to the cup is always humdrum.

I couldn't resist trying to roast some myself, though, so I sprung the $17 or so for a pound of greens. This is almost 3X the typical price I would pay for high quality coffee from other origins. The beans themselves are gorgeous - jade green and of massive size. Seriously, these are some really big beans. I suppose this has something to do with the altitude they are grown at.

The roast profile was intended to be gentle with these beans, given both their density and their price. The last thing I wanted was to carbonize these pricey beans. I targeted a City+ roast based on some other reviews of this coffee, though I understand Kona often gets a darker roast than this.

And the result? I was surprised by how much acidity was in the cup. It was somewhat unexpected, but not unpleasant. The coffee has an interesting chocolate-malt character, and is extremely intense, even at this relatively light roast. Has a good.....er.... coffee taste. Is it worth the price? Nope. It is a nice cup, but it doesn't have any unexpected character or other unusual traits that might justify the price. Compare this to something like the Gesha coffees of Panama, which are truly unique (and even then don't justify their price, IMO), and I just don't get it. I certainly enjoyed the cup, but I have little desire to buy more. Based on drinking it throughout the week, I think it would do better at a Full City roast, so I will try that at some point.