A magnificent cup of coffee isn’t just about the beans, although it certainly starts there because you can’t get high quality flavor from low quality beans. But once you’ve chosen a quality coffee, how you brew it also affects flavor. The same Kona Coffee can taste remarkably different based on the brewing method you choose.
From the familiar taste of drip brewed coffee to the slow intention of a pour-over, the robust taste of French Press and the intensity of a Moka pot, each brewing style reveals an entirely different side of the very same coffee. It’s almost like experiencing four entirely different tastes in every bag of Kona Coffee. So let’s talk about four different ways to brew your Kona coffee.
Drip Brewing: Balanced and Familiar
Drip brewing is the method most people know. It's easy and familiar. Water heating in the back of the brewer, rising, and gently showering the ground Kona, slowly dripping into the carafe, followed by the delightful taste and aroma you know and love.
With standard drip brewing, hot water passes evenly through the ground Kona, extracting flavor in an steady, even flow. Drip brewing highlights the gentle balance Kona is best known for.
Drip brewing is equally suited to medium or dark roasts. It brews Kona with less intensity, more harmony. The finished cup is smooth bodied with delicate notes of fruit and nuts on the finish.
While a drip brewer makes incredibly consistent coffee, you can vary the taste by varying the amount of ground coffee. While the rule of thumb is 2 Tablespoons of a medium grind coffee per cup, you can use more or less to brew a more (or less) robust cup. Experiment with ratios 10-12 g (2 scant or 2 rounded tablespoons) per 6-8 oz cup to find the ratio that tastes best to you.
Pour Over: Clean, bright and incredibly smooth
Pour over brewing gives a whole new taste to Kona. Instead of a machine controlling the flow of water, you do. Rapidly at first, to soak all the coffee at once. Then slowly, so slowly, which brings out distinct layers of flavor you won't get from drip brewing your coffee.
Pour over is the brewing method for people who want to taste every nuance of the bean with all its brightness and clarity and very little acidity. It's like drip coffee, but grown up into a smoother and more nuanced cup.
Compared to drip coffee's smooth harmonious profile, pour-over Kona is brighter, with more clarity, and more defined notes of citrus, honey and florals. If you prefer Medium Roast, absolutely try it. It's a whole new Kona!
The biggest pro is how quick it is to make a pour over. Microwave or boil the water and let cool slightly (about 200 degrees) and in 2-3 minutes, you have a freshly brewed coffee.
Clean up is just as quick. Bin or recycle the filter and grinds and rinse out the cone. No fuss, no mess, just a delicious cup of Kona.
An interesting note when serving company, brewing Kona in a Pour Over brewer is often the method most enjoyed by tea drinkers because it has a lightness, clarity and mouthfeel most similar to tea. Plenty of flavor, but with a light mouthfeel for those who don’t enjoy a heavy full-bodied coffee.
French Press: Bold and full bodied with a heavier mouth feel
The French Press, or cafetière, is immersion brewing at its simplest, ground coffee is steeped in water and then separated by pushing down a metal mesh plunger.
A French press moves in the opposite direction of drip coffee, trading clarity for depth because it allows natural oils and fine particles that would normally be caught by a paper filter to remain in the cup. It makes Kona richer and more full bodied and gives a heavier mouth feel.
The taste is deeper, richer, more textured. Less bright citrus, more cocoa and toasted nuts with emphasis on weight and warmth over delicate nuance.
The nice part of brewing coffee in a French Press is that you can’t really do it wrong. Spoon in the coffee, fill the brewer with water that's been boiled and allowed to cool a little (ideally to about 200 degrees), stir, and press. It’s not entirely without variety because you can vary the time you let the coffee steep before pressing the plunger. The longer it steeps, the stronger the coffee.
If you love Medium Roast, a French press will give it more body and weight but Dark Roast really shines in a French Press. Why not try both and discover tastes you've never experienced in a drip brew!
Moka Pot: Intense, espresso-like (and so wonderful iced!)
If you’ve never tried brewing Kona Coffee in the iconic Bialetti Moka Express, you must! It brews coffee by pushing hot water through grounds using steam pressure very much an espresso machine, but right on the stovetop.
An expresso machine uses much more pressure than a moka pot, but outside of an espresso machine, no other brewing method but the Moka pot brews coffee using steam pressure. That’s why coffee made in a Moka pot has a depth you won’t get with a drip maker, Pour-Over or even a French Press.
The coffee is thick and strong but doesn't have the full crema of espresso. Moka pot coffee is a richer, bolder, cup of coffee with the heaviest mouth feel.
With Kona, the result is intense yet smooth. The flavor is similar to French Press, but thicker. Not quite espresso, but the Moka Pot delivers a similar richness.
Medium roast and dark roast have almost entirely different tastes and you'll want to try both. Dark roast makes excellent full bodied and flavorful iced coffee that never tastes weak and try Medium Roast hot with a dollop of whipped cream on top, it's absolutely marvelous.
In summary:
There isn’t a right way or even a best way to brew Kona coffee. It’s really just discovering the taste, aroma and mouth feel you enjoy the most. Each method offers its own unique flavor, from the mellow and balanced drip brew to the clarity and light mouth feel of a pour-over, the richness of French press, and the intensity of the moka pot.
The beauty of Kona Coffee is that no matter which brew you choose, it’s a top quality coffee. One of the rarests coffees in the world, grown in the rich volcanic soil on the Big Island of Hawaii, and every bean is picked by hand to ensure that only ripe coffee is harvested and you will never taste the bitterness of an unripe coffee bean in a cup of Kona.
We hope you’ll experiment with how you brew your Kona Coffee and discover all the different flavor profiles in this rare and delicious taste of aloha.