Heyo,

I’ve had a espresso machine for a couple of months now and wanted to info dump about my experience with Kona since I just got some of those beans.

For a bit of context, I’m going to compare Jose’s organic french roast coffee since that’s what I’ve been brew for the past couple of months.

When brewed as esspresso and made as a latte, Kona coffee has a more mellow bitterness due to its lighter roasting. Unlike the french roast I usually have every morning, Kona coffee doesn’t give you the strong bitter bite. Additionally, frothing the milk correctly gives the drink a nice natural sweetness that makes the drink reminiscent of hot chocolate.

That being said, I’ve had an issue with Kona. Using the grind settings I use for my french roast was too fine for the Kona due to Kona’s increased water content (as evidenced from the grinds sticking to my grinder more). As result, my first extraction of Kona was… constipated for lack of a better description. I barely got any coffee liqueur from my first Kona attempt due to the increased pressure. My second attempt with a courser grind was better but was still too fine, resulting in a coffee tasting slightly like dirt. It was only on my third attempt that it worked.

That’s my mini-review of Kona coffee.