I am a Jamaican coffee addict...I order Blue Mountain in 12lb lots sent in from the island. I have tried Kona and it just didn't have the level of flavor that I like. Never tried Ka'u but this convinced me to order a pound of dark roasted beans...should be here Tuesday and I'll give my opinion then.
Not a competition. I just like good food and drink and am sometimes willing to pay for it. As I said in another thread, my monkeys are NOT cheap dates. And while we can be super frugal, I want them to enjoy good food and have good manners. And I have raised them that way on purpose. The manners part is work in progress. But they do know what a gentleman is and how a lady is supposed to be treated. So when I explained to the little monkey about why a gentleman will have a lady walk on the inside on a sidewalk, she says, "If my boyfriend doesn't do that, I am going to hit him." And she can hit pretty darned hard.
Blue Mountain is rated #1 in the world, I understand and Ka'u is #3 and rapidly rising. Most Kona is just smooth with not enough flavor. So I agree with you, @PaxMentis. Let me know how you like the Ka'u. I really liked it. May not be quite as flavorful as Blue Mountain, but I thought it was good. Hope you try it black first.
When I was in my 20's, I was riding up a long escalator admiring the nice looking lady ahead of me. She must have felt me looking, because when she got to the top, she was maybe 10 feet ahead of me, she turned around and said, "Hi Hanzo!" Talk about busted. Didn't know who she was riding up, but I hadn't seen her in about ten years. Knew her in my high school years. The years were very kind to her. She looked even better than when she was younger. Wow!
Most old fashion gentlemanly acts were to put the guy in harms way instead of the lady. Or at least to minimize the lady's risk and discomfort to the man's own. So little monkey kind of joked, "If my boyfriend is not going to face an oncoming car for me, he will face my speeding fist." Sheesh! But at least the girls will recognize who is and who isn't a gentleman. I hope they will anyway. Within the past year, I opened a door for an older African American lady. She says, "I didn't know there are still gentlemen around. I talk to ladies nowadays and they just hate it when guys act like gentlemen and open the door for them and stuff. And I tell them they are idiots."
Most girls don't know how to 'walk slow' and batt their eyes. It's a highly effective female weapon set.
Got the Ka'u beans on Monday. Nice full flavored coffee with just a bit of an edge...find I like it mixed about 50/50 with the BM a lot.
Kauai coffee is good too. Better than my photography. If I take pictures without my reading glasses, they don't always come out clear.
Some of what I miss about Hawaii.. Warm sea breeze, Kona coffee on the lenai and the eye candy at the beach!