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Coffee that is cultivated within the Kona district of the big island of Hawaii is known as Hawaiian Kona Coffee, and is grown on Mount Mauna Loa and Mount Hualalai. Conditions for growing coffee are favorable due to daily weather patterns of bright sun in the mornings followed by humid afternoon showers and mild conditions at night. In February and March Hawaiian Kona Coffee blooms with small white flowers that cover the trees. Green berries begin to form in April, and by late August red berries called “cherries” weight down the branches. Harvest time for the berries is from August and January. Each tree yields between twenty and thirty pounds of Hawaiian Kona coffee cherries. Once separated from the tree, Hawaiian Kona coffee beans are removed from their pulp and left overnight to ferment. The higher the elevation the longer fermentation takes. The next step is rinsing the beans and then drying. The Hawaiian Kona coffee beans are spread out over drying racks. They will dry for seven to fourteen days before reaching optimal moisture of ten to thirteen percent. Kona coffee has such a demand that the price of one hundred percent Hawaiian Kona coffee is expensive. It will take seven to nine pounds of Hawaiian Kona coffee cherries to produce one pound of roasted coffee beans.
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