The Gift of Heaven-- Coffee Culture in Hawaii

Located south of the Tropic of Cancer and spanning latitudes of 19 to 22 degrees, the Hawaiian Islands are unique coffee-growing areas. Hawaii is the 50th state in the United States, 2400 miles from the west coast of the United States, and is the only state in the United States that produces coffee. The coffee produced in Hawaii is famous all over the world and is regarded as one of the best in the world.

Hawaii has volcanic soil and tropical climate, suitable humidity and regular afternoon showers, creating an ideal planting environment that only appears in idyllic poetry, adding delicate and unique flavor to the coffee beans here. In general, Hawaiian coffee has a medium consistency and a moderately strong aroma, which is in harmony with its bright acidity. "this is definitely the best coffee in the world, with drupe and chocolate flavors, and it tastes smooth and delicious," said David Kingman, head of Kona Mist, a roaster and retailer on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Although Hawaii has superior growing conditions, historically, the road to coffee cultivation in Hawaii has been very rugged, and its development has not been taken seriously from the beginning. "it wasn't until 15 years ago that the coffee industry in Hawaii began to take off." Said David Gridley, president of the Hawaiian Coffee Association. Although there were many people who wanted to take advantage of Hawaii's unique geographical conditions to grow coffee commercially and make a profit from it two hundred years ago, we can see that they only learned a painful lesson in the end.

In 1825, the merchant ship H.M.S. Blonde left gloomy England for Sandwich Islands on the other side of the world, carrying the bodies of King Kamehameha II and the Queen, who died of measles during a visit to London. Sheriff Chief Boki of Oahu, an accompanying official, decided to escort their bodies back to their distant homeland. On the way back, he recruited a man named John Wilkinson to join them on the journey. While in London, Chief Boki bet on a fashion at the time-cafes, and Wilkinson was a coffee expert.

Wilkinson spent several years supervising the cultivation of coffee and sugar in the West Indies. Sheriff Chief Boki believes that with Wilkinson's professionalism, he will be able to develop a piece of fertile land in the Manoa Valley behind his hometown Honolulu into the first ideal commercial coffee growing area in Hawaii. During a short stay in Brazil, Wilkinson picked out some coffee seeds and planted them as soon as he returned to Hawaii. But two years later, just as the coffee tree was maturing, Wilkinson gave up, leaving the visionary coffee garden unmanaged.

From many similar examples, we seem to see the possibility of the development of the coffee industry in Hawaii. Coffee trees continue to be transplanted to other valleys or other islands on the island, and before long, coffee trees have been planted on almost all the major islands in Hawaii. Coffee trees were initially popular as exotic horticultural plants, not for commercial use. Many people just planted one or two coffee trees in their backyards. It took twenty years to try to plant a large number of coffee trees for commercial purposes. The second attempt was in 1841, in the Hanalei area of Kauai Island, to develop a 1, 000-acre coffee plantation to grow coffee trees transplanted from the Manoa Valley. Three years later, the coffee farm first exported Hawaiian coffee beans abroad, with a quantity of only 245 pounds. Since then, production has increased, but still in small quantities. Although there were still attempts and failures, by 1870, Hawaii's coffee bean exports had reached 415000 pounds.

Just as the coffee crop gained a foothold on the island and became a major crop, the tragedy happened again: there was a major drought and insect pests, so the Hanalei coffee plantation was forced to close in 1855. Although the coffee plantations on the big island seem to have better planting conditions than the lower Hanalei, the big island also suffered great losses due to white shell pests (white scale blight).

In the 1890s, people finally found a prescription for the eradication of diseases and insect pests. They introduced the Australian lady bird beetle to fight the diseases and insect pests of coffee trees, so the coffee growing industry on the big island is booming again. However, with the ups and downs of international coffee futures prices and the impact of overproduction, many large coffee farms closed down because they were unable to cope with drastic changes in the economic environment, and large coffee farms were soon replaced by small farms with an average of less than five acres of land.

In the 1930s, there were more than 1000 small coffee farms on the Big Island; by the 1950s, 6000 acres of coffee woodland in the Kona region of the Big Island produced coffee beans; and by the turn of the century, almost all of Hawaii's major islands were covered with coffee trees. Today, more than 100 years later, the coffee industry has revived on all Hawaiian islands, growing coffee throughout the state of Hawaii.

Even today, some factors that are beyond human control can adversely affect coffee cultivation in Hawaii. For example, due to frequent sudden rainfall on the big islands, the climate on other islands is unusually dry. According to the Hawaiian Department of Agriculture, total coffee bean production in Hawaii fell by 13% in the 2001 / 2002 season, and coffee bean exports totaled 7.6 million pounds, down from 8.7 million pounds in the previous quarter.

All the islands of Hawaii have coffee trees for commercial use. The Big Island has the largest number of coffee farms, with about 650 farms, but these coffee farms are relatively small, with a total of less than 2000 acres. There are only 25 coffee farms operating on the islands of Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai, but the area of coffee farms in these places is much larger than that on the big island. The total output is also more than three times higher than that of the Big Island Coffee Garden. Surprisingly, Kauai Island has the largest coffee-growing area of any island, with more than 4000 acres, but all are managed by the same operator; Molokai Island has only 550 acres of coffee, and Maui and Oahu are even less. Most Hawaiian coffee farmers still pick fresh coffee cherries for sale today, but in recent years more and more people are committed to adding value to their coffee bean products, processing, drying, grinding and roasting their own coffee beans.

The most famous coffee bean and coffee producing area in Hawaii is Kona. Located in the southwest of the island, this area is 20 miles long and 2 miles wide, covering the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa. Only coffee beans grown in this area and subject to the strictest certification standards can be sold under the brand name Kona. At present, about 100 farms produce coffee beans that meet the above standards, and more and more farms are expected to follow suit in the future.

Norman Sakada, president of the Kona Coffee Culture Festival, said: "60% of the coffee estates in Kona have been up to standard in the past 10 years. Kona Chateau Coffee is now a bit like the winery in Napa Valley. " The Napa Valley mentioned here is a wine region in Northern California, where wines have excellent regional characteristics, so they are internationally recognized as a good wine worth paying more for.

Coffee grown in other parts of the island is collectively referred to as Hawaiian Coffee. As the price of Kona coffee has soared over the past few years, it has set an example for island residents to know how popular and profitable coffee is from Hawaii. As a result, coffee trees are becoming more and more popular in other parts of the island.

The coffee planting area on the west coast of the island is gradually expanding, and the areas where sugar cane was originally grown are declining because of the low production costs in other countries. The owners of these lands abandon the crops that have won by quantity in the past, and choose to plant crops with high quality and high profits. In this wave, three new coffee producing areas Kau, Hamakua and Puna, which have been recognized by the Department of Agriculture of Hawaii, have been born. Although coffee prices in these areas are not on a par with Kona, many experts point out that prices will rise sooner or later in the near future, because these regions are also meticulous about quality.

In the 2001 issue of the Hawaiian Business Journal (The Hawaiian Business Journal), Ted Lingle, executive director of the American Fine Coffee Association (SCAA), said: "in most cases, the first thing that people think of Hawaiian coffee is Kona. Other excellent producing areas have not received the same attention because they have only recently developed."

David Gridley, president of the Hawaiian Coffee Association, pointed out that the coffee quality standards set by coffee farmers in Hawaii are very strict and are updated every year, which is why Hawaiian coffee products always exceed the standard. "I think as long as people pay attention to the quality of coffee, there is absolutely no doubt about the quality of Hawaiian coffee," he said. Because Hawaii has the most stringent requirements for coffee quality in the world. "

Mike Sheldrake, the head of the Polly's Gourmet Coffee in Long Beach, California, has witnessed the results of such tight checks, the introduction of new planting techniques by Hawaiian coffee farmers and the generational transition of coffee farmers. He has been selling Hawaiian coffee in the United States for 30 years. "on this board, I have witnessed the growing of better and better coffee beans in Hawaii," he said. "the quality of Hawaiian coffee has indeed improved significantly over the years." The improvement in the quality of Hawaiian coffee is reflected in the price list in Polly's, which continues to supply Hawaiian coffee beans at a price of $20 to $25 per pound. Sheldrake has been buying Hawaiian coffee beans from Greenwood Farm, an old estate on the Big Island of Hawaii. This estate has a long history and is one of the oldest, largest and largest coffee farms on the island.

One of the biggest challenges for other late-invested new farms is how to market their coffee beans to customers around the world, especially since they are mostly small-scale farms. However, with the popularity of the Internet, some coffee farmers and bakers on the island have found that this method is an excellent marketing tool, through which they can develop one-to-one supply-marketing relationships with customers from a long distance. and can take orders to send coffee beans directly to customers.

Almost all of Kona Mist's coffee beans are traded online, allowing the company to tailor coffee products to customer needs. "We all bake after receiving orders from customers," David Kingman said. The idea of fresh baking allows Kona Mist to provide its customers with the freshest coffee beans.

Another marketing direction of Hawaiian coffee farmers is the eastern countries. At present, nearly 90% of Hawaiian coffee is sold to the domestic market of the United States, but Japan is likely to have a higher share of consumption in the near future. In the year 2000, 15 Japanese coffee roasters were invited to visit coffee farms in Hawaii islands. The business exchange was a great success because at this event, the Department of Agriculture of the State of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Coffee Association signed an agreement to send a number of Hawaiian representatives to visit Japan every other year.

Kauai Coffee Co. The company's Frank Kiger told the Hawaiian Business Journal: "the company has developed a new marketing plan, and the upcoming trip to Japan will be a great opportunity for us to better understand why our coffee is so popular in Japan." The company is the largest exporter of coffee from Hawaii to Japan.

Similarly, coffee farmers on Oshima are hopeful about the Japanese market. Norman Sakada, president of Kona Coffee Culture Festival, said: "the The Miss Kona Coffe celebration is an event sponsored by a Japanese coffee company. Many Japanese coffee companies also have large coffee plantations in Kona and sponsor Kona Coffee & Cultural Festival events (this year's event will be held between November 7 and 16). Kona coffee is very popular and very expensive in Japan. "

The Hawaiian Islands have long been recognized as a paradise on earth, and after nearly two centuries of efforts in coffee cultivation, Kona has almost equated with "quality". Now, other islands of Hawaii are trying to catch up with the high quality standards of Kona. For many beach activities and coffee lovers, is Hawaii really like Mark? Twain described it as "the most enjoyable place on earth!"

Translated from the September issue of Fresh Cup Magazine, pages 52-58, "Hawaii-Coffee From Heaven" by Kenneth R. Olson, the original copyright and related rights belong to the magazine, the copyright of the translated text is reserved by the translator, please indicate the source of the reprint. Huang Wei with pictures: Hawaii travel network