Kona Girl, giclee print by Dietrich Varez
Kona Coffee refers to the beans cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai, in the Kona district of the Island of Hawaiʻi. This region, often called the Kona Coffee Belt, spans just 30 miles along the coastline and yields exceptional beans for world-class coffee. Introduced to Hawaiʻi from Brazil in the 1820s, the first coffee trees were planted by Reverend Samuel Ruggles in 1828 on the westward volcanic slopes of the Big Island. The accompanying image showcases leaves, beans, and coffee flowers surrounding a young woman with a small coffee tree, alongside two baskets of coffee beans drying in the Kona sunshine.
