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Rare · PeaberryHawai‘i · Honaunau, South Kona · 2,200 ft

100% Hawaiian Kona

Why it’s worth it

5acres
The whole farm, above Honaunau on Mauna Loa
15+years
Age of the Typica trees
10%
All the Kona a bag needs to say Kona. Ours is 100%.
~$6.65a cup
About seven cups in every 4 oz pack, full wash
Peaberry: one round bean per cherry

Hawaiian Kona · Peaberry

Roast
$46.524 oz~$6.65 per cup

Currently unavailable

What you’re paying for ↓

Molasses · Apple · Lime

Location
Honaunau, South Kona
Varietal
Typica, trees 15+ years old
Elevation
2,200 ft

Hawaiian Kona · Peaberry

What you’re paying for

Real Kona is expensive because there’s so little of it. The whole growing belt runs about 30 miles and is only a mile or two wide, split among roughly 600 to 800 small farms. The ground is volcanic rock, too rough for machines, so pickers walk the same trees again and again through the season, at American wages. Most Kona on a supermarket shelf is a blend that can be 90% something else, and the front of the bag has to say so. This isn’t a blend.

How it reaches you

  1. Holualoa, 1,450 ft
    Picked and processed
    Hand-picked as the cherries ripen, washed, sun-dried, and rested in parchment for two months.
  2. Kona
    Roasted where it grew
    The farm roasts in small batches to a city-style medium, the way the family drinks it.
  3. Kona to Virginia
    Straight from the farm
    It comes to us direct from the island. No broker and no warehouse in between.
  4. Sterling, Virginia
    Tasted, sealed, frozen
    We taste it as it rests. On its best day it’s vacuum-sealed in 4 oz packs and held at −40 °C.
  5. Your kitchen
    Ships within 3 business days
    Held at −40 °C until the day it ships, then sent sealed at room temperature. Open it and start drinking.
South Kona, Mauna Loa
South Kona, Mauna Loa

Where it grows

Honaunau, on the slopes of Mauna Loa

The farm covers five acres at about 2,200 feet above Honaunau, on the western slope of Mauna Loa. Its Typica trees have been in the ground for more than fifteen years.

Every cherry is picked by hand as it ripens, from July through December, then washed and dried. The coffee is roasted at origin, in Kona.

Farm name kept private at the family’s request

Big Island · North and South Kona
Topographic map: Big Island · North and South Kona
Origin
Hawai‘i, USA
Region
Honaunau, South Kona
Elevation
2,200 ft
Varietal
Typica, trees 15+ years old
Bean
Peaberry, sorted by hand
Process
Washed
Harvest
Picked July to December
Farm
5 acres on Mauna Loa
Roasted
At origin, in Kona
Size
4 oz whole bean, about seven cups

The story behind these beans

Why real Kona is hard to find

Kona is the best-known coffee name in America and one of the most watered down. Hawai‘i law lets a bag say Kona with 10% Kona inside, and that minimum only rises to 51% in July 2027. So most of what’s sold as Kona is mostly something else. A single estate that roasts its own harvest sells out close to home. Here’s how this one reached you.

Field journalBuyer’s note

Two farms on two volcanoes

We buy Kona from two family farms and we buy direct. This is the North Kona farm: four acres on Hualalai, more than sixty years of coffee on the same land, and a family that still roasts its own harvest.

The other sits at 2,200 feet above Honaunau on Mauna Loa. It’s where our dark roast and the peaberry come from.

Swarnav S Pujari & Anand RajuFounders
Rubia ReserveField journal
The Holualoa estate
The Holualoa estate
The two farms
North Kona
Holualoa · Hualalai · 1,450 ft · 4 acres
South Kona
Honaunau · Mauna Loa · 2,200 ft · 5 acres
Harvest
2025/26, every cherry picked by hand
Field journalBuyer’s note

Two farms on two volcanoes

We buy Kona from two family farms and we buy direct. This is the North Kona farm: four acres on Hualalai, more than sixty years of coffee on the same land, and a family that still roasts its own harvest.

The other sits at 2,200 feet above Honaunau on Mauna Loa. It’s where our dark roast and the peaberry come from.

Swarnav S Pujari & Anand RajuFounders
The two farms
North Kona
Holualoa · Hualalai · 1,450 ft · 4 acres
South Kona
Honaunau · Mauna Loa · 2,200 ft · 5 acres
Harvest
2025/26, every cherry picked by hand

The cup

How it tastes

Molasses, apple and lime, from the same South Kona farm. A medium roast.

Tasting notes

Peaberry, medium roast · Full wash · Typica

  • Sweet
    Molasses
    A dark, rich sweetness, closer to brown sugar than to honey.
  • Fruit
    Apple
    A crisp, fresh brightness, the way a bite of apple tastes clean.
  • Fruit · Citrus
    Lime
    A quick, clean citrus brightness at the edge of the sip.

Reading the cup

Each note names what a taster is reminded of in the cup, by aroma first and then on the palate. Nothing is added to the coffee. Beyond the notes, a cup is read on four things.

Acidity
The brightness that gives a cup its lift, the way ripe fruit tastes alive. Low acidity reads round and soft.
Sweetness
Sugars developed in the ripe cherry and in the roast, read as honey, caramel or ripe fruit.
Body
Weight and texture on the palate, from tea-like to syrupy. Think skim milk against whole.
Finish
What stays after the sip, and for how long.

Sealed at its best

Sold on its best day, not its roast date

A roast date tells you when a coffee started, not when it’s good. Most coffees need a rest of several days to a few weeks before they taste right, and it’s different every time. So we taste each one as it rests. On the day it tastes best, it’s vacuum-sealed in 4 oz packs and held at −40 °C.

Nothing stops coffee from aging. Of every way to store it that’s been studied, sealed and frozen slows it down the most. That’s the coffee you open.

Sealed and frozen at −40 °C keeps the most flavor.

RESTFLAVOR036912+MONTHS IN STORAGESEALED + FROZEN ON ITS BEST DAY
Sealed + frozen at −40 °COURS
Sealed, room temperature
Opened, on the shelf
  1. 01

    Roasted at origin

    By the people who grew it, the way they drink it.

  2. 02

    Tasted for peak flavor

    We taste it as it rests and seal it on the day its flavor peaks. The tasting picks the date, not the calendar.

  3. 03

    Sealed and frozen

    Vacuum-sealed on its best day and held at −40 °C.

  4. 04

    Shipped sealed

    Out of the freezer and into the mailer, within 3 business days.

The pack inside its mailer

What arrives

One 4 oz pack
About seven cups.
Roast date on the pack
So you always know exactly what you’re opening.
Sealed for the trip
It travels sealed at room temperature. Once you open it, drink it within one to two weeks for peak flavor.

Questions

Before you buy

What does Kona on other bags mean?

Under Hawai‘i law, a bag can say Kona with as little as 10% Kona coffee inside, as long as the front discloses the rest. That minimum rises to 51% on July 1, 2027. Ours is 100% Kona from one estate.

Is Hawaiian coffee the same as Kona?

No. Kona is one growing region on the Big Island, made up of the North and South Kona districts. Ka‘u, Maui and Kaua‘i grow coffee too, but they’re separate origins.

How long does it keep?

It ships sealed at room temperature, so keep it sealed until you’re ready to brew. Once you open a 4 oz pack, we recommend drinking it within one to two weeks for peak flavor. The roast date is printed on the pack.

Shipping and returns

Ships within 3 business days to the 50 US states and DC. All sales are final. If anything is wrong with your order, email hello@rubiareserve.com and we’ll work to make it right.

Also on the shelf

Hawaiian Kona · Peaberry
Molasses · Apple · Lime
$46.52
~$6.65 a cup