Coffee has been grown in Hawaii for 150 years, and Kona coffee has long been known as some of the world’s finest. But these days, Kona coffee is meeting a challenge from growers on other islands in the Hawaiian chain who are discovering new and subtle flavors to tempt the finicky palates of coffee lovers. Kauai, Molokai, Maui, and Oahu all have their own versions of the volcanic soil and climatic conditions that make for great coffee, and each offers a distinctive alternative to Kona’s familiar flavor.
The first coffee plants were brought to Hawaii from Rio de Janeiro in 1825 aboard a British warship, the H.M.S. Blonde. Oahu’s chief, Boki, planted them in Honolulu’s Manoa Valley, providing the stock that would later find its ideal climate on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Hawaii farmers see gourmet coffee as their best bet.
The leeward slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa volcanoes on the Big Island offer the high elevations, year-round sunshine, and rich volcanic soil that give Kona coffee its distinctive taste. Growing coffee on Kona’s steep volcanic hillsides has traditionally been the work of small family farms of five acres or less. On the other islands, it’s a different story, with Kauai’s Island Coffee Company cultivating some 4,000 acres and companies like Amfac-JMB and Dole setting up plantations on Maui and Oahu. The decline of Hawaii’s pineapple and sugar industries has spurred a full-scale search for alternative crops, and many farmers see gourmet coffee as their best bet.
Kauai coffee is what at least one addict is looking for; "good morning coffee." It is tasty and simple with hints of chocolate flavors. Although our somewhat unscientific survey could not provide us with a clear result, it did encourage further exploration of Hawaii’s diverse coffee flavors. Somewhere in the island chain, there’s a coffee to please just about any palate, and the range of flavors being offered is only going to expand in the years to come.
