Estate grade coffee means coffee from a single estate. It does not always mean best quality. It can be and is usually a mix of all Kona grades, including the defective beans that can ruin the taste. Officially, Estate grade is called “Select”, not Estate.
Our Kona coffee is the highest possible quality of Kona coffee, period. It goes through extensive washing, sorting and filtering, including a high-tech machine that examines EVERY bean and rejects any that display signs of a defect. Our coffee is virtually defect-free, a claim that almost no one here on the island can claim.
I’m not saying all Estate Grade coffee is bad. Some Estate grade coffees from single estates are quite good and very unique in flavor. But unless you’ve been to Kona and sampled the various estate coffees, why take the risk of purchasing a bad coffee. Be safe, go with the state certified coffee from a farm you can trust.