I confess that, after living in Washington for a little over a year, I've not yet really sampled the local coffee culture. I know, it's inexcusable, particularly since I'm exceedingly fond of coffee. I don't really have an excuse. I want to experience the full panoply of Washington's fine coffee emporiums and roasters, I really do. There's just one small problem. You see, long ago, I discovered Hawaiian coffee, and fell deeply in love with it. Not just the Kona brew you hear so much—but coffee from Kaanaipali, in Maui, or Kauai or Molokai. You don't hear much about Hawaiian coffee except for Kona, and honestly, most of the state-side Kona if you check the label is actually something like 10%, with the rest made up of Arabica.
Coffee first reached the Hawaiian islands in the form of fertile beans, in 1813, on the island of Oahu.
In 1825 coffee trees from Brazil, acquired by Chief Boki, the Governor of Oahu, arrived on the British warship H.M.S. Blonde. The coffee trees were planted in the Manoa Valley on Oahu. It wasn't much more than a botanical curiosity at the time, but in 1828 the Reverand Samuel Ruggles planted coffee in Kona, in an area that was well irrigated with rich porous volcanic soil. The coffee flourished there, but then in 1892, Guatemalan coffee beans that were both sweeter in flavor and even better suited to the growing conditions in Kona were planted by Queen Liliuokalani's former Minister of Finance, Herman A. Widemann.
From Kona, coffee, and coffee plantations spread to all of Hawaii's primary islands, though Kona was (and still is) the dominant coffee grower. There's a wide variety of Hawaiian coffee, and many small Hawaiian coffee growers. The nature of the islands micro climates and varied terrain means that the coffee is very much affected by local growing conditions—much like the way terroir affects wine. The small size of many of the coffee farms allows for hand-harvesting, especially on Kona, which in turn means that the fleshy red cherries are fully ripened on the bush before they are picked, which results in a more nuanced, and less acidic coffee. The single largest coffee farm is on Kaui, where they do use mechanical harvesters.
I am particularly fond of the coffees of Maui, especially Kaanapali, and of Molokai. You can sometimes find Lion Brand Royal Hawaiian coffee state-side; they produce blends as well as 100% Kona coffees. Trader Joe's carries both Kona and Molokai coffees, and both are lovely. There are a number of online Hawaiian coffee vendors as well; I'm partial to Maui Coffee Roasters, who do their own small batch roasting every day, and ship pretty much anywhere. They're the only place I've ever been able to reliably find my very favorite, Maui Kaanapali Peaberry. Another of my favorite varieties of Hawaiian coffee comes from the island of Molokai, where they grow red catuai, a variety of arabica coffee trees As of this 2009, there were 6,500 acres in coffee in the entire state of Hawaii, with an annual production of 6 to 7 million pounds green beans. In the island of Oahu, you can see coffee trees along the Kam Highway between Wahiawa and Waialua.
While I am determined to start trying the locally roasted and brewed coffees of Washington, I'm also glad I don't have to do without Hawaiian beans.