Taste of success

KEAUHOU — That’s some cup of joe.

Winners of the Kona Coffee Cupping Competition were announced Thursday during the 45th annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival.

Aikane Kona Coffee took home the coveted Kona Coffee Cupping Competition in the Classic Division for single estate farms with Arianna Farms Ono Kona Coffee capturing its fourth win in the Kona Crown Competition Division for larger farms.

The two-day event evaluated nearly 70 single estate farms and larger farm coffee entries with a blind tasting — including an exacting sniff, slurp and taste test — for each entry.

“This year we have more variety with some of the taste profiles we are experiencing. It’s been pretty exciting especially for some of the judges who don’t get to cup a lot of Kona coffees all the time,” said Miguel Meza, founder of Isla Custom Coffees and judge. “They are surprised by the diversity of taste that they get here in Kona.”

Two competitive divisions, Kona Classic and Kona Crown, separate single estate and larger farms. Kona Classic entries are single estate farms and the Kona Crown Division is set aside for larger farms and professional processing mills including known brands sold to Kona coffee aficionados around the world.

Both divisions share common rules for entering.

All coffee entered must be 100 percent Kona coffee, grown solely in the Kona District. State law requires that any coffee labeled as Kona coffee must be of grade prime or better. Contestants may either enter the Crown or the Classic competition but not both. All submissions are marked with an anonymous number for a true blind taste competition.

It was up to an internationally recognized panel of cupping judges to cup and taste their way through the entries looking for the best flavor profile known here as Kona characteristics: aroma, body, flavor, acidity, sweetness and aftertaste.