Kona coffee is the only name for coffee  cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island.

The "coffee belt" in Kona is approximately two miles wide from 700 feet (210 m) to 2,000 feet (610 m) elevation.

 Only coffee from the Kona Districts can be described as "Kona". The weather of sunny mornings, clouds or rain in the afternoon, little wind and mild nights combined with porous, mineral rich volcanic soil, creates favorable coffee growing conditions.

Although coffee can be harvested year-round in Hawaii, highest production begins in late summer and extends to early spring. There were about 790 farms. Average yield was 1400 pounds per acre. In 1997 the total Kona coffee acreage was 2290 acres and green coffee production just over two million pounds.

Most of Kona coffee farms use the method of "Wet Method Processed."

Coffee cherry is pulped to remove the outer flesh, carefully fermented, which helps give the coffee its characteristic bright, clear flavor, and thoroughly washed in clean water. Some farms are then naturally sun-dried on large decks (hoshidanas), and raked regularly to give even drying (Our Farm). Some use a machine to dry.

The dry beans are machine milled to remove the parchment and silverskin, and the resulting green beans sorted and graded (Our Farm). Some Kona Coffee included blend Kona Coffee are not sorted and sold as "estate."

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