This year’s top scoring coffees from the 51st annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Cupping Competition are a collection of unique varieties and some experimental processing methods.
Sixty-six Kona coffee entries were submitted into this year’s competition. Kona Farm Direct took first place in the Classic Division, reserved for smallholder farms and celebrating innovation, with a fruit-dried (natural-process) Mokka variety scoring 86.42. Top ten coffees in this division saw a very tight competition and scored within less than 1.5 points of each other.
This year’s Kona Heritage Award, a parchment-dried (washed) Typica variety in celebration of traditional cultivation techniques in Kona coffee, went to Ka’awaloa Trail Farm finishing in Fifth Place overall and scoring 86.13.
The Crown Division award required HDOA certification for a 500 lb lot and reserved for larger farms and mills, went to a parchment-dried Typica entry from Imagine 100% Kona Coffee scoring 83.65.
The cupping competition strictly followed Specialty Coffee Association cupping methodology and protocol and was hosted by Pacific Coffee Research of Kailua Kona, Hawai’i in their Coffee Quality Institute certified lab.
“I am so proud of the Kona coffee growers’ tenacity and dedication to producing quality coffee despite so many obstacles over the past few years. Their pursuit paves way for a younger generation’s opportunity to innovate and elevate the Kona coffee industry,” noted Brittany Horn, 2022 Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Cupping Competition Committee Chair.
2022 Kona Coffee Cupping Competition Winners
Classic Division
1. Kona Farm Direct – Kona Mokka – 86.42
2. Kona Naturals Kona Coffee – Typica – 86.38
3. Kopiko Farm – Gesha – 86.25
Crown Division
1. Imagine 100% Kona Coffee –Typica – 83.65
2. Hawaiian Queen Coffee – Typica – 83.40
Kona Heritage Award
Ka‘awaloa Trail Farm – Typica – 86.13