dvdchance Senior Member Joined: 7 Jul 2008 Posts: 32 Location: NJ Expertise: I love coffee
Drip: Technivorm MoccaMaster CD
Posted Sat Oct 29, 2011, 10:34am Subject: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
I was shopping at my local Whole Foods store this morning and I saw that they had a new coffee in their Allegro brand, 100% Kona Estate Coffee from Arianna Farms. It was whole bean vac sealed and not roasted in store like their other bulk coffees.
Has anyone given this a try? It was a bit pricey even for a Kona ($26 for 8oz) but it was tempting.
Estate has a specific meaning relating to Kona coffees doesn't it?
TonyVan Senior Member Joined: 24 May 2010 Posts: 267 Location: Pacific Northwest Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: GS/3, La Pavoni Grinder: Macap M7K, Rocky Drip: Kone
Posted Sun Oct 30, 2011, 11:17am Subject: Re: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
Sometimes - not always and absolutely depending on the store - there will be a WF staffer who takes care of the coffee department and who will give you the straight story. So if you're looking for Kona locally and ok with the price, it's worth asking about. Many WF products are selected and sourced by the local staff, so there may be much more in-store knowledge available than with a HQ-driven chain such as Albertsons, Kroger or Safeway, and the chances are better that it hasn't sat around warehouse after warehouse being trucked around through the supply chain
Also, the normal WF policy seems to offer returns on defective or out-of-date ot stale product, which is usually no-questions-asked, but you might get confirmation in advance that's it's refundable if it comes out stale.
"Estate" is typically used for a mixture of all the sized beans grown on one farm, removing the number 3s. This is in contrast to a consistent screen size, such as "extra fancy," the largest bean. Hawaiian coffee standards.
dvdchance Senior Member Joined: 7 Jul 2008 Posts: 32 Location: NJ Expertise: I love coffee
Drip: Technivorm MoccaMaster CD
Posted Mon Oct 31, 2011, 7:42am Subject: Re: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
Thanks for all the great replies.
I asked the coffee roaster when I was at the Whole Foods, she is usually very knowledgable about the coffees and has some strong opinions on the ones she roasts, but she hadn't tried that yet. I had been hoping she had tried it because I know she has a strong preference to lighter roasts. All she said was that they just got it in, and it's expensive.
I should have looked more closely at the bag to see if it had a roasted on date. It had a date which I took to be the expiry date but really didn't look at it too closely, my mistake there. I did see that it mentioned it was from Arianna Farms so it did give the beans source.
Maybe I can ask them how long their expiry date is from the roast date? Or perhaps they sell the beans green and Allegro roasts them? That might be more likely I think.
How long will a roast such as this stay quality in a vac bag?
Posted Tue Nov 1, 2011, 1:57pm Subject: Re: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
dvdchance Said:
I was shopping at my local Whole Foods store this morning and I saw that they had a new coffee in their Allegro brand, 100% Kona Estate Coffee from Arianna Farms. It was whole bean vac sealed and not roasted in store like their other bulk coffees.
Has anyone given this a try? It was a bit pricey even for a Kona ($26 for 8oz) but it was tempting.
Estate has a specific meaning relating to Kona coffees doesn't it?
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
konacoffeefarmer Senior Member Joined: 31 May 2008 Posts: 27 Location: Kealakekua Expertise: Professional
Posted Tue Nov 1, 2011, 9:48pm Subject: Re: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
Arianna Farms is a reputable farm here in Kona. About the size of Hula Daddy. They are large compared to the more common 3-5 acre farms, but the family has their hands in the day-to-day affairs. Google them and you'll get their website with contact info. Pretty sure they'll give you all the info you need.
Thing is that to get the best Kona at best prices, deal with the Kona (or Ka'u) farms directly. Especially when you live in the US or Canada, as shipping is fast & cheap. Why pay middlemen when you can get it farm direct? Farmer gets more money, you'll get it cheaper.
Posted Wed Nov 2, 2011, 6:15am Subject: Re: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
konacoffeefarmer Said:
Arianna Farms is a reputable farm here in Kona. About the size of Hula Daddy. They are large compared to the more common 3-5 acre farms, but the family has their hands in the day-to-day affairs. Google them and you'll get their website with contact info. Pretty sure they'll give you all the info you need.
Thing is that to get the best Kona at best prices, deal with the Kona (or Ka'u) farms directly. Especially when you live in the US or Canada, as shipping is fast & cheap. Why pay middlemen when you can get it farm direct? Farmer gets more money, you'll get it cheaper.
jimnyo Senior Member Joined: 30 Nov 2012 Posts: 1 Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Sat Dec 1, 2012, 10:41pm Subject: Re: 100% Kona Coffee at Whole Foods...Any Opinions?
just in case anyone is interested...
i just returned from the big island. while there, i looked up who some of the winners were at the most recent kona coffee festival they have annually and arianna farms was one of them (and they've actually won more than once i believe). i called to see if i could buy their beans and they said no, i either had to order online (and pay shipping) or i could buy them on the mainland at whole foods (as op mentioned) or on the east coast under the roaster's name, willoughby's. apparently, allegro and willoughby's are the only 2 roasters they use.
incidentally, i then asked the very kind lady at arianna if there was someone local that we could pick up beans from while were we were there. she mentioned hula daddy, so we went there. they were also very helpful and we toured their farm and sampled their coffee. when i came home, i noticed that on coffeereview.com, hula daddy had a number of 90+ rated coffees and also that according to here: http://www.coffeereview.com/review.cfm?ID=2803, you can get arianna farms coffee from a roaster in sunnyvale, ca. as a sidenote, arianna farms' website only offers their peaberry, but it is the same price as hula daddy's least expensive coffee.
lastly, i will never buy pre-ground kona coffee again, especially if it's less expensive. at the hula daddy farm, they told us about the borer beetle that plagues some coffee plants and showed us how they get inside the cherry. they sort through the beans and then put them in water and the ones that float are pulled b/c the borer beetle creates an air pocket than makes the cherry float. but their are companies who will buy the infected cherries and use them in their coffee and sell them. ewwww...
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