100% Hawaiian Coffee
About Ka`U Coffee
Our coffee is grown on small family farms in Ka'u district on the southern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii. Ka'u coffee is hand-picked, processed in small batches, and sun-dried so as to preserve the special qualities of our beans. The hard work of our farmers paid off this year when Ka'u estate coffees placed 6th and 9th in the International finals of the Specialty Coffee Association of America's 2007 Roaster's Pavilion Cupping Competition. Ka'u coffee has also received the "outstanding" score of 92 points by the well-respected Coffee Review.
Although Ka'u coffee has been virtually undiscovered by the outside
world until recently, coffee has been cultivated in Ka'u on a small
scale since the 1800's. The closure of the sugar plantations in 1996,
which had used most of the arable land in the district, created the
motivation and the opportunity for more extensive coffee cultivation.
Most of the coffee farms in Ka'u were planted in 1999 or early 2000's
by ex-sugar plantation workers searching for a new way to make a
living.
Ka'u Coffee Grower's Cooperative was formed in 2002 by the Ka'u coffee
farmers. The cooperative gives farmers access to education and
training, group insurance rates, marketing opportunities and other
benefits. We are very pleased and proud to offer the award-winning
coffee of our member farmers to you.
Coffee History
According to a coffee history legend, an Arabian shepherd named Kaldi found his goats dancing joyously around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Kaldi soon determined that it was the bright red cherries on the shrub that were causing the peculiar euphoria and after trying the cherries himself, he learned of their powerful effect. The stimulating effect was then exploited by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during extended hours of prayer and distributed to other monasteries around the world. Coffee was born. Despite the appeal of such a legend, recent botanical evidence suggests a different coffee bean origin. This evidence indicates that the history of the coffee bean began on the plateaus of central Ethiopia and somehow must have been brought to Yemen where it was cultivated since the 6th century. Upon introduction of the first coffee houses in Cairo and Mecca coffee became a passion rather than just a stimulant.
