Hawaii hopes to be home to the World's hottest coffee taste
“As France is to wine and Italy is to pasta, Hawaii wants to be to coffee.”

“Since about 1985 producers of the only coffee grown in an American state have been selling their crop all over the world, transforming their industry from a $4 million a year business to one with sales of $20 million annually. Many believe it has the potential to bring in millions more."

“On the western slopes of the Hawaii Island, under the ideal greenhouse conditions of intense morning sun and cloud-covered afternoons, is where one of the best grades of coffee in the world grows. Kona coffee has been grown on the Island of Hawaii since the late 1800s by individual farmers handpicking the beans on their small farms. Even today, they still take pride in the extra care they give to the cherries.  [That’s why] Kona coffee has become the second-most expensive regularly available coffee in the world,” said Lingle, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America. (Kope Luwok coffee of Indonesia sells for $130. per pound.) Connoisseurs of coffee say the taste is worth the price for a cup of Kona.
Exerpts from Santa Barbara News Press, July 14, 1997

HAWAIIAN COFFEES
Since the early 90’s the gourmet market has exploded. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, the number of coffee retailers mushroomed from just over 2,000 in 1990 to 11,000 in 1997.  The value of Hawaii’s coffee harvest has multiplied from $6.5 million in ’93-’94 to an estimated $29 million in 1997’s completed harvest. The total of the latest crop of beans weigh about 9 million pounds, more than triple what it was four years ago, according to Hawaii’s Agricultural Statistics Service.

Since the start of the 90’s the islands of Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu now account for roughly two thirds of the total value of the Hawaiian coffee crop. The Hawaiian coffee growers are growing different varieties, in different locations that are going to appeal to different people explains H.C. Bittenbender, chairman of the University of Hawaii’s horticulture department.

“Hawaiian coffees” sell for a fraction of the price of Kona. These Hawaiian Coffees are quick to point out that they grow their own varieties and never pretend to be Kona. Some Kona devotees look down on the newcomers as pretenders to the throne, and are concerned they will dilute Kona’s top-flight image.

Jonathan O’Bergin, Hawaii Coffee Association president and a Kona grower stated, “You need a marketplace in order to have a niche in that marketplace. Coffee is ideally suited for suitcase agriculture – meaning it can be converted into an item that can be carried away in a tourist’s suitcase. 100% of the added value in the roasted product can stay within Hawaii.”

Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association, Ted Lingle, adds, “If we were to pick a place to learn how coffee agriculture should be in the 21st century, it’s Hawaii. Hawaii is playing an historic role.”

Dan Kuhn, chief operating officer of Coffees of Hawaii explains, “We have a tremendous advantage in Hawaii because we’re part of the United States and we’re plugged into the tourist market. If we take advantage of that, we can sell all the coffee we want.”

Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu have all jumped on the specialty-coffee wagon, joining the cousins on the Big Island’s Kona Coast. These rival growers are dealing with different soils, various bean strains, and diverse microclimates of each island with the goal of targeting consumers with label-conscious tastes who don’t mind paying more for coffee grown in the USA without pesticides used in other coffee growing countries.

The new coffee producers on Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu have modified blueberry harvesters to pick their coffee bushes. Vibrating mechanical rods poke long fingers through the branches, dislodging all the coffee cherries rather than just the ripe ones. This makes careful sorting afterward vital, something that is less important when coffee is hand-picked.

As with all fruit, ripe fruit is sweeter than green, un-ripened. So as with coffee. When the bean within the ripe fruit has reached full maturity the sweetness is tasted in the roasted bean.

Find out why some coffee tastes so bad.

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