Category: Behind the Cup

You’ve chosen some of the best coffee in the world. How do you reveal its character and complexity? First, what separates Kona Coffee from others? If you are laying down Kona Coffee Money, you will need some information to get the most from your coffee.  Believe it or not, while 100% Kona Coffee tastes amazing, it is not actually famous for its exact flavor profile. Imagine a Sour Cream and Onion potato chip for a second. That particular combination of salty and fatty with a hint of bitter/sour comprises the Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet Chai, she will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Aloha, my Name is Chai, I’m one of Greenwell Farms Tours guides and when I’m not doing tours, I do quality control and I am one of Greenwell Farms Q-graders. What’s your favorite place on the farm? One of my favorite places on the farm is the retail store, I Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides Kona Coffee farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet Elnora, she will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Aloha, Hi, I’m Elnora a tour guide at Greenwell Farms, known for high quality 100% Kona Coffee. What’s your favorite place on the farm? One of my favorite places on the farm is where the coffee trees are, especially when they are in bloom. This is a coffee Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet Tomoko, she will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Hello, I’m one of the Japanese tour guides working at this farm specializing in 100% Kona Coffee.  My name is Tomoko, if you come here, I am happy to show you the farm. What’s your favorite place on the farm? I love this spot with our 100-year-old trees. When I Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet James, he will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Aloha, my name is James, I’m one of the tour guides here at Greenwell Farms. What’s your favorite place on the farm? One of my favorite parts of Greenwell Farms is the roasting room. Behind me is a massive 100-pound roaster.  It’s a drum roaster, the coffee spins around, an Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet Bronson, he will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Aloha, I’m Bronson, one of the tour guides here at Greenwell Farms and we specialize in 100% Kona Coffee. What’s your favorite place on the farm? So, my favorite spot on the farm is going to have to be right here down at the nursery.  At any given moment we Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet Matt, he will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Aloha, welcome to Greenwell Farms, this is a fifth-generation family farm and we specialize in 100% Kona Coffee.  My name is Matt and I am one of the guides here. What’s your favorite place on the farm? One of the really cool places on the farm is what we call Read More…

Greenwell Farms provides farm tours led by expert guides who share the rich history and craft behind producing Greenwell Farms 100% Kona Coffee. Meet Kawena, he will give you a taste of the farm in a brief interview below.   Aloha! My name is Kawena, I am a guide here at Greenwell Farms. What’s your favorite place on the farm? This is our facility called the wet mill, where we receive coffee from local farmers, the whole process begins here. Our latest piece of equipment is called a laser optical Read More…

Our Commitment to Quality Continues to Grow  Greenwell Farms knows that keeping the quality of Kona’s world famous coffee is important to ensure its sustainability for seasons to come. Quality assurance at Greenwell Farms has been enhanced as Jennifer Greenwell recently earned a prestigious Coffee Quality Institute’s Q Grading certification. Earlier this summer, Jennifer Greenwell spent an intense week pursuing the prestigious and respected certification as part of a seven-person group testing under the direction of Jodi Dowell Wieser. This was the first Q Grader and Training exam in Hawaii. Read More…

With national weather attention focused on those cold, winter states, Greenwell Farms thought it would be a good time to talk about Kona Snow. It’s magical really. Kona Snow refers to the delicate, fragrant coffee blossoms that are making their first 2015 appearance here on the farm. Each branch of our coffee trees is lined with multiple white flowers that sit atop each branch just like fallen snow. The flowers fill the morning air with a light gardenia-like fragrance. This is also a busy time for our bees, who work Read More…

Greenwell Farms incorporates modern pruning techniques in its farming practices. Trees are completely stumped after their second year of full production giving them a full year of rest. At any given time, one-third of the farm has been stumped. When this process is completed each February/March, it is a dramatic change in the look of the orchard. The picture on the left was taken in early February 2014. These stumps actually have vibrant root systems with a tremendous supply of energy capable of significant vegetative growth in a very short Read More…

The 2014/15 coffee season is shaping up to be one of the best crops in recent memory. The short crop in the previous season coupled with timely rains in January and February created several very large blooms. Consistent rain since the bloom season has made for optimal growing conditions. This next season should be a good one.

Greenwell Farms has been steadily improving its growing and processing techniques in its quest for the highest quality coffee possible. A big part of this quality program is the cupping program headed up by Chai Neo. Chai has recently received CQI certification of Q-Grader. CQI is Coffee Quality Institute and it is an international nonprofit organization working internationally to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of the people who produce it. CQI developed the Q Coffee System to reinforce and uphold the standards of specialty coffee as defined Read More…

In this short educational video, Tom Greenwell discusses ways of pruning Kona coffee, including both the traditional method, as well as the more “innovative” style of pruning used at Greenwell Farms. This latter style, The Beaumont-Fukunaga system, was developed in the 1950s, however, it was rejected by most farmers in Kona at that time. Greenwell Farms has utilized the Beaumont-Fukunaga method almost exclusively since the farm’s inception. What is Coffee Pruning? Coffee pruning is a method of trimming coffee plants. It can be done annually to promote fruit production, maintain Read More…

In the 1990s, Greenwell Farms almost ceased to exist. With the farm literally dying in front of their eyes, the Greenwell Family didn’t give up. By reaching out to innovators and utilizing new farming practices, they managed to find a solution to the nematode that was attacking the roots of their plants. This devastating time proved to be a turning point for the company, and today, Greenwell Farms is a model of forward-thinking in the coffee industry. Greenwell Farms is a coffee farming and processing company in the heart of Read More…