Kaʻū Coffee

Coffee, Coffea arabica, is a post-contact crop in Hawaiʻi, brought in the nineteenth century and settled first in Kona and on other islands before it reached the high southern slopes of Hawaiʻi Island. Kaʻū lies on the flank of Mauna Loa, a district long given to sugar cane, and its coffee grew in importance as the plantation economy there contracted and growers turned to smaller farms. Kaʻū coffee is a protected name under Hawaiʻi's origin-labelling law, and it is carried today by family growers and cooperatives, who pick, process and mill their own crop.

Kaʻū coffee is arabica, Coffea arabica, grown on volcanic soil at moderate elevation on the southeast of Hawaiʻi Island, in a district with frequent rain and cool nights. The cherry is picked ripe by hand over several passes, pulped, fermented, washed and dried, or dried whole in the fruit for a natural process, then hulled and sorted by size and defect. The roasted bean gives a cup that is clean and medium in body, with sweetness and a gentle acidity, brewed as filter, press or espresso. The label means something only when the coffee is wholly grown in the district.

Kaʻū coffee is drunk black or with a little milk at breakfast, and in the afternoon with sweet baked things such as manju, sweet bread and butter mochi from the local table. Its moderate acidity and clean sweetness stand against sugar and fat without being flattened by them, so the cup refreshes the mouth between bites. Roasted lightly to medium, it keeps the fruit and sweetness that a dark roast would burn away.