Booking a guided tour at a coffee farm was a great way to win over my partner’s family during the second half of our trip to Hawaii, where we all met on the Big Island.
Our family members might not have been in the best shape for an intense hike, or brave enough for a swim with the sharks, but hey, who doesn’t like a cup of Joe?
The plan was set: we would visit one of the highest-rated coffee farms on the island and have a nice time. After all, the weather seemed to be holding strong (little did I know that it rained so frequently in Hawaii!), the drive was easy, and the idea of a coffee tasting was sparking excitement throughout our group.
As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by what we would soon discover to be our guide for the tour across the 85-acre farm, a peaceful-looking man in his 50s.
But before even starting… coffee first!
We boosted our energy by chugging a couple of coffee samples.
After that, the tour unfolded like an incredibly pleasant loop walk, both inside some facilities and outside through coffee orchards.
I was immediately surprised to learn that coffee in its natural state — before it looks like the bean we are used to — resembles a pea and is called a cherry:
Additionally, like olives, cherries are picked only during specific months of the year and can sometimes be infested by specific insects that ruin them from the inside, thereby making them unsuitable for consumption.
Throughout the explanations, it became immediately clear that the farm we were visiting followed very strict standards to produce their high-quality coffee, which variety is called Kona coffee, even going as far as checking their cherries one by one in some occasions.
This explains why, in most places in Hawaii, you can find Kona coffee, only to later discover that it contains only 10% of it!
But the most interesting part for me was visiting the drying, packaging, and labeling facility, as well as the quality control section.
In the former, we saw the machine used to dry the beans:
The wheel is necessary to cool the temperature of the beans; otherwise, they would continue cooking.
I also learned that the expression dark roast means the coffee beans have been roasted thoroughly and for a long time.
Despite my Italian-ness, I can now clearly say that I don’t like dark roast coffee, typical of Italian coffee, even though I grew up drinking espressos (which to me always had a burnt taste!).
We also got to see the packages of beans destined for commercial purposes, as well as large bags of beans that will be shipped nationally or internationally.
And that’s where I learned that one of the big bags in the picture below costs as much as $1600!
In the latter section, we met a woman who was responsible for checking the quality of the farm’s coffee. A bit of a dream job, dissecting, smelling, and tasting coffee all day long, don’t you think?
I was amazed by her passion for coffee.
The way she explained things was so engaging that I seriously contemplated throwing away my career to become a coffee specialist. After that, she made us smell different types of coffee, from the ones that hadn’t turned out as good to some that had recently won coffee prizes.
I wished we could spend hours with her, receiving detailed explanations of all the charts hanging on the walls:
Fast forward to the last part of our tour: the coffee tasting.
I felt pretty proud of myself for having been able to moderate myself during the coffee sampling at the start of the tour because if I hadn’t, my body wouldn’t have reacted well to drinking so much coffee.
The tasting was so much fun.
It took place at a cute counter in the shade, with a breeze coming from the ocean. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
The tasting entailed pouring, stirring, smelling, and tasting three very different types of coffee.
Under suggestion of our guide, we tried to guess the types of food the aroma of the coffee reminded us of. For example, someone in our group said that a coffee variety reminded them of Southern barbecue. As soon as she said that, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. She was absolutely right!
I personally didn’t have any food come to mind. But once again, I confirmed that I prefer light or medium-roasted varieties over dark-roasted ones.
Additionally, I fell in love with one of the most delicious coffees I’ve ever tasted — the Macadamia Nut Coffee! It’s 100% Kona coffee infused with the essence of Macadamia nuts, which are very popular in Hawaii.
And as if this wasn’t decadent enough, their website recommends trying it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an indulgent treat — affogato style.
I’m yet to try it, but my mouth waters every time I think about it.
Overall, the tour and tasting were incredibly fun and informative. Never in my life had I spent so much time thinking about all the labor that our cup of Joe requires. This experience made me assign even more dignity to these plants and all the work that goes into the liquid we owe... well, pretty much our entire lives to.
If you are thinking about going to Hawaii, I couldn’t recommend a guided tour at Greenwell Farm enough!
☕Now, I’m curious to hear… are you a coffee enthusiast?
Do you have specific coffee tastes or you can drink any type of coffee you find, as long as it provides you with a nice boost of energy? Have you ever tried non-caffeinated alternatives?
That’s all from my side this week. I wish you a productive, non-jittery week!
Yours,
Caterina