I've acquired a 5lb bag of 'Kona Extra Fancy' of unknown origin and age, and no matter how I roast them(from City to Full City+), I'm not very impressed with the outcome. Always smells and taste 'earthy' for lack of a better word. Not a whole lot going on.

What are the tell tale signs of old green beans?

-Jim

-- Appearance: Tan to white bean color as opposed to green to tan.
-- Early roast: Faster than usual climb to the first crack, weak first crack
-- Later Roast: After first crack, beans cannot take the usual amount of heat, and scorch more easily.
-- Cupping: lack of aromatics, lack of acidity or fruit, predominantly woody and baggy tastes, and papery or dusty mouth feel.

Coffees can be like this for other reasons (low grown, picked unripe, bad transport). But the in the end, it comes down to a very simple yes or no to the questions of whether you ever want to roast and drink this coffee again. Regardless of how much you paid, or what its reputation is; if the answer is no, it's best to dump it.

I purchased about 10 pounds of 2010 crop Kona early this year. Compared to most other beans I have roasted, my conclusion is that Kona beans are expensive, and not too exciting.

I have found all these other coffees to be more interesting than the Kona (and cheaper by half):
Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Sumatra