Rarefied roasts
The hunt for Hawaii’s best coffee covers new ground.
If the island of Hawaii is synonymous with Hawaiian coffee, then Kona is what most expect in their morning cup: a typically balanced roast, with sweet depth from fruit and chocolate notes, and brighter acidity from higher elevations of rich volcanic soil. Although Kona thrives as a visitor destination, farmers in the lesser-known regions of Kau and Puna are also growing some of the finest coffee in the world. Here’s a taste from three sources: Kona / Hula Daddy
A notable farm in Holualoa, on the slopes of Hualalai volcano, Hula Daddy flies the Kona flag proudly. Originally from Los Angeles, Karen and Lee Patterson produce consistently fine Kona coffees, despite initial inexperience.
“When we bought the farm in 2002, we had no idea what we were doing,” says Karen Patterson. “We hired an agronomist to help us determine which varieties would flourish here. Three years later we had our first crop.”
Some of their most desirable coffee, sold only by mailing list, comes from Bourbon Pointu Laurina trees, which grow at the farm’s highest elevation of 2,500 feet and produce a limited amount. This rare coffee has notes of deep florals, dried fruit and nut butter, with an almost effervescent acidity. It’s no wonder that it has a cult following.
Roastmaster Laura Ross, who changed careers from hospitality to coffee roasting in her 40s, says the Bourbon Pointu Laurina is one of the most challenging coffees to roast. “It’s such a small production that there’s no room for error. At $50 for 8 ounces, we have to get it right the first time,” she notes.
Visitor can taste many other Hula Daddy coffees, as seasonally available, at the shop overlooking the lower farm and the coast in the distance.
Kau / Rusty’s Hawaiian
Kau (pronounced kah-ooh), a coffee-growing region to the southeast of Kona, is beloved by consumers who like the “third wave” style of coffee, marked by lighter roasts and creative processing methods. At the epicenter is Rusty’s Hawaiian, where more than a decade ago Rusty and Lorie Obra embarked on their dream of starting a coffee farm.
Originally from the Philippines, they found a 15-acre plot of land above the old sugarcane town of Pahala. But times were hard in Kau, an area not yet known for coffee. When Rusty died in 2006, Lorie became the lead farmer, experimenting with processing methods and allowing her farm to be a test lab for the University of Hawaii.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” she says. “This farm was my husband’s dream, and it was also our livelihood, so I had to learn to do it all.”
Lorie Obra now produces some of the island’s most sought-after coffees with the help of daughter Joan Obra Gaston, formerly a food critic for the Fresno Bee, and son-inlaw Ralph Gaston. Rusty’s Hawaiian has become known for naturally processed coffees, which are sun-dried rather than traditionally washed, giving them complex, fruity profiles. Two popular varieties, Red Caturra and Yellow Caturra, exhibit different kinds of fruit notes, the red leaning more toward the berry end of the spectrum and the yellow evoking the tropics.
“I love the challenge of making better coffees every year,” Obra says. Sample some at gourmet restaurants such as Moon and Turtle in Hilo or specialty markets such as Whole Foods in Kailua, Oahu. Rusty’s Hawaiian also sells its beans online.
Puna / Big Island Coffee Roasters
Puna, in the southeast corner of Hawaii Island, lies far removed from most tourist attractions. Kelleigh Stewart and Brandon Damitz, young coffee entrepreneurs based in Portland, Ore., fell in love with its wildness and in 2010 bought a 3-acre coffee farm in Mountain View with chickens, sheep and even wild pigs.
“During the first few years, when we were trying to rehabilitate the coffee farm, we had to do a lot of other work to make a living, and we were basically subsistence farmers,” Stewart recalls. “We still butcher our own sheep and pigs, trade coffee for fish, and have no other water source than rain catchment.”
As owners of Big Island Coffee Roasters, they have brought innovative approaches to varieties and processing to their beans as well as those of other local growers who meet their high standards. The dry-processed version of their Puna coffee can be a revelation to virgin palates with its sweetly tart, crisp fruit tones and lively acidity. Constant humidity makes it challenging to process naturally, Damitz notes.
“Naturals are often favored in places with a lack of water, but here we have the opposite problem and have to be diligent to avoid ferment, which wrecks the taste of the coffee.”
Still, their efforts have paid off. In 2013, Big Island Coffee Roasters’ Puna Pink Bourbon
“It’s such a small production that there’s no room for error.” Laura Ross, master roaster
was named Grand Champion in the Hawaii Coffee Association’s Statewide Cupping Competition — the first farm outside of Kona or Kau to do so. Hualalai Trading Co., on Kona’s luxurious Hualalai resort, features their roasts exclusively, with special experiences for connoisseurs who want to delve deeper.