I came to Kona, invited to be a judge at the Hawaii Kona Coffee Fest 2005 Cupping Competition.
I was a bit frazzled from work, but happy to be away from the computer at least! Here is my idiosyncratic travelogue. Read what you will, skip the rest (this strays far from coffee topics into other things, like my newfound contempt for United Airlines! A different story though…)
A mere 54 photos and maybe 25% are actually about coffee. Ay yay yay…
Actually, this green turtle could really care less about me, my camera, and anything else. On the first day I felt the same way. I just wanted to sleep. Recommendation: avoid United, take Aloha. All the annoying people got together and decided to take United Airlines to Kona that day. Locals seem to take Aloha Airlines more. 
Getting off the plane and landing on the beach, I could not sympathize more with this fellow creature. Thanks for another lousy flight, United Airlines. Drunks, know-it-alls, kids licking the seat behind you, newlyweds who can’t stop talking. My mp3 player saved me. Seriously, can’t blame anyone about being excited about a trip to Hawaii. I mean, Kona is amazing … you can get off the plane, rent a car, drive to a beach and harrass the wildlife in a matter of minutes. http://www.konacupping.com/2005gindex.html Next morning, bright and early, I am ready for good Kona coffee, for a cuppa Kona, or for a cup of coffee, or anything with caffeine, or just anything brown … damn I needed coffee! Trent Bateman (R) organized the cupping competition this year. More on the Batemans and their farm (Mountain Thunder) later. To the right is the emcee-singer-magician-coffee guy Sam. The art competition is another neat part of the festival, adjacent to the coffee tasting. It is run by Rita Cowell of Kowali Farms … more on her farm when we visit it later. Rita has run the art festival for 10 years now… 
Lisslotte Echoff, who is the “master taster” for Gevalia in Sweden, although she is proudly Danish! Lisslotte has a great nose, and was able to pick out some details in the dry fragrance of the coffee that I would only pick up on during the actual tasting. Hey, sometimes mild fermenty notes smell good until you actually taste the coffee! Samples at the Kona Cupping Competition are presented to the judges in parchment, milled green coffee, and roasted whole bean. While it is interesting to see these, to look for cup problems that stem from the stages of production, we judge the coffee by tasting the cup, and only the cup! Again, John King, aka Jeff Kent of MLB. John kept seeing celebrities at the event, although nobody else seemed to recognize them. He was convinced Penelope Cruz was there, but later, he saw Elvis. John, lay off the coffee for a bit… An example of the parchment coffee. From this I can see that some amount of the fruity mucilage layer on the cherry was left on the parchment skin layer, and allowed to dry that way. Perhaps this coffee was produced using a demucilager after removing the skin, and the demucilager had the water pressure turned down to allow prevent total “washing” of the coffee. This will affect the cup quality, as it does in Brazil where they have the “pulped naturals” and all the mucilage is left on the parchment layer to dry. From Left to Right, Peter, Shunta Baba from UCC (Ueshima Coffee Company, Japan) who was a fellow judge, and Jim from Gevalia. Jim runs all the numbers after we turn in scorecards, and generally keeps the event rolling along. It went really well this year, a credit to Jim and to the Bateman folks… Coffee break. There were some beautiful cut branches of coffee cherry as part of the table decor. The event is very educational because many of the visitors have never seen a coffee cherry, parchment, or even green coffee. At Kona, the proximity of the farms and mills to the cupping makes it an easy way to get a total view of the coffee process. From left to right, John King (fellow judge, from Harold King coffee brokers in Redwood City, CA); Leona, the brand president at Kraft for Gevalia Coffee (who gracefully sponsors the event); and Peter, who also works out of Terrytown NY for Kraft/Gevalia, and worked for Taloca (Kraft’s coffee brokerage arm) in Singapore previously. In fact, he is an experienced cupper and has worked for many coffee companies, but was at the event to be the technical guy, preparing each coffee sample and making sure the water was poured just right! The 2005-2006 queens of the Kona Cultural Festival. At the left is the queen herself, tiara and all, Iwalani Ynigues. She was late to take the pictures because she is still in high school – just 17! And to the right is the 1st Runner Up Tioni Tamsing, who tried out a little coffee tasting with the judges and was real sweet. And … uh … here they are again. They stole the show. What would you rather watch, 4 sucking slurping spitting coffee judges or 2 beauty queens. And first place goes to … Rancho Aloha Organic, with Lisa and Bruce Corker walking up to take the ribbon. For me this cup was the most “Kona-like” of the top three, with floral aromatics and good brightness to the cup, hints of tea and lemon. The second place coffee might have been my personal #1, Long Mountain, with a subtle Kenya-like winey acidity. Aikane Estate at #3 had a lot of character, a deep sweet citric quality, and great body. It might have been my favorite of all, but there was slight variations in the uniformity of the cups, and I wasn’t sure the character was that “Kona” cup that we are looking for. It was the wild card coffee, but no doubt the winner on overall “quantity of cup character.” 
This is the list of the top 15 at the end of the first day … see the note that 32% of the top 15 were new entrants in the competition and that 25% were organic! Now, don’t quote me on this but I believe the list as you see it from top to bottom was the rankings after the 1st day. With another day of rest on the roasting, Long Mountain and Rancho Aloha jumped above the Aikane, which was in 1st. On the second day we re-cupped/re-ranked the top 15, then we took the top 3 and re-cupped/re-ranked them. It was a very thorough examintation of the coffees, and gave each a couple shots to get noticed. Church ruins at Kealakekua Bay, or was it Ho’okena Bay … It was the later. Anyway, I had a day to recover before the event started. And I was smart this time and rented a real 4wd vehicle. That meant getting down to Mahai’ula was going to be a lot easier than last year when I was stuck with the worlds lowest rental car, the Ford Mustang. If the rental agency had only looked at the undercarriage of the car when I returned it … On the last day of cupping, my lovely and sometimes sarcastic wife Maria flew in, and after the usual “after-cupping” lunch with the judges, sponsors, and other riff-raff, we headed out for some snorkling. I don’t know what I did wrong right before taking this picture but it was something. Since we haven’t been to the volcano park to see the Kilauea Caldera, we had to go. It’s 93 miles to the south of Kailua Kona (there’s a reason they call this the Big Island!) Enveloped in mist, shrouded in a stinking fog, but pleased to be warm, yours truly at Kilauea, getting steamed. Putting danger aside, I was a big fan of the steam vents at Kilauea, finding them sulpherous in odor, but nice and warm. We were still in beach clothes. Word of advice: bring extra clothes and some hiking shoes for volcano travel. We drove south on a whim, so whatever …. Next day we were at a favorite beach again, at Kekala Kai Park. This is a path nothward across the lava flow (of 1801 I believe) to Makalawena. Makalawena is part of the Bishop’s Estate land, but you are permitted to trespass. Makalawena, a very nice white sand beach with some enjoyable body surfing. Just watch out for the rocks. The path between the two beaches, in the park. This was, like much of the area, former ranch land. In fact, the goats might be all that is left of the ranch. Interestingly, their is an abandoned house at the beach that was said to be owned by Loretta Lynn! Now she has a large ranch elsewhere on the island. At Mahai’ula beach (well, behind the beach on the lava field facing Mauna Kea volcano) are this hurd of wild goats. They were neither too scared of my presence, not did they want to come over and hang out. I have heard of the wild boar, but didn’t know about the goats. One of the many fun-loving spiders of Hawaii, just hanging out. If you are arachnaphobic, this probably isn’t the best place for you (or at least, stay on the beaches, or in the pool by the hotel). It’s Mountain Thunder time. Maria and I headed up the hill to the Mountain Thunder mill. As I mentioned before, this is the Bateman farm. They process coffee for their own estate, have a separate organic certified plot, and process for some other folks too. Here is a picture of Thomas, the machinist and farm supervisor, with a really cool 4wd vehicle, the Kawasaki Mule! I need to get me one of them. Loading up the pallet with their own estate coffee, headed to … Sweet Maria’s actually. The estate is very high altitude for Kona, 3200 feet up Kaloko Drive, and one of the northernmost coffees in Kona area. (And you are encouraged to visit the mill, where they sell coffee and have a gift shop). 
Trent took time to show me the “Cat’s Eye” in his coffee – these are the special dark spot seen in the seed on the left and not on the right. Trent says this contains higher concentrations of aromatic volitile oils than the rest of the seed and will result in a better cup. Later this year when we receive our 2005-2006 Kona coffees, I will put his theory to the est by separating and cupping the difference between a single lot of coffee with and without the dark “Cat’s Eye” spot. Should be fun! Trent Bateman and their 2 Diedrich IR 12 roasters. Trent runs the farm and mill, his wife Lisa oversees much fo the business and their daughter Brooke does all the roasting. Brooke roasted all the samples for this years Kona Coffee Festival (no small feat) and they were roasted really well too. It was a true City roast which is great for cupping, while some casual onlookers will think the uneven surface appearance is some kind of problem. In fact, if you roast darker for cupping, you are going to be tasting the roast, more than the coffee – not the idea of cupping. This is the main cultivar you find on Kona, the bronze tipped (referring to new leaves) Kona Typica which is known to be of Guatemalan heritage. These trees were started about 100 years ago, and might coincide with the transition from large coffee plantations pre-1899 to the small farms afterward. 1899 marked a huge coffee price crash, and abandoned farms were later replanted with the Guatemalan Typica (also spelled Tipica). Kaldi’s Goats – if you know the mythic story behind the “discovery of coffee” by the goat herder Kaldi, then maybe the presence of these guys on the Bateman’s farm will mean something to you. I for one did not see them a. eat coffee or b. dance. Mineself, pictured from the Bateman’s veranda, on their certified organic plot. These are massive 15 foot tall trees in beautiful condition, especially when you consider that organic trees usually are a bit more scraggily than non-organic trees fed with nitrogen fertilizers. Here you see a typical mix on a single branch of coffee ready to pick (some that REALLY needs to be picked, that is, turning dark crimson) while other is yellow-green and will ripen in a few weeks or a month. Actually, this branch is more uniform ripening than you will see in other origins where pickers make 5-6 passes on the same tree. This year, there is so much cherry in Kona, the mills are backed up and the picking crews are in very high demand. Some farmers fly in experienced coffee pickers from Mexico and other coffee origins to harvest, since local labor doesn’t fill the need. I did, however, see an incredible abundance of coffee on the trees all over Kona. We went over to the Rittenhouse farm to visit Roger and Vivian; Moki’s Farm as our customers know it. This is a huge crop and the trees are bending, almost at breaking point, with the weight. The cherries are big and beautiful. These are ready for picking. This and the next image are from 80-100 year old trees that remain along the periphery of Moki’s Farm. Nobody at home, also could be titled “how I feel at 4:30 pm every day.” Crabs abandon their shells on the lava. Ah, back to the coast. This is a typical view of the Kona coastline – there are very few sand beaches in Kona. It is a steep slope down to a volcanic skirt … and some of the underwater drop-offs are huge too. I love “reef walking” in Kona, tidepooling – but growing up in San Diego it was much easier to do than in Kona. Kona will tear your feet up. Invest in some good reef-walking slippers. Spiny sea urchins in the tidepools at Honaunau, City of Refuge Park Lacking an underwater camera, tidepool shots of small corals was the best I could do. Actually we did some spectacular snorkling, but alas, no pictures. Sacred Hawaiian Altar defiled by the German elderly! Kamehameha is rolls in his grave! Oh, it’s a tourist economy so let them have their fun … European tourists swarm on the City of Refuge at Honaunau. What they seek? A snapshot and a qucik return to the AC on the tour bus! Oh, to be a brown, shapeless blob of goo, floating in the tidepool among the colorful fish and coral. I felt that not many people take, nor publish, pictures of Hawaiian algae – I try to be unique, I guess. There’s a name for every type of lava, every solidified form, but I just think they look cool. There is a geologic reality to this place that you confront with nearly every step. Land is fresh, unweatherized. Erosion has not won yet, not here. I like that … Nonetheless, you see flora (read: a weed) spring up in the absence of soil. It’s mundane, but amazing too. 
Can you take a guy in a pink hat seriously? Maria thought no, but I tried anyway. Up the hill from Honaunau, in South Kona, is the Cowell’s farm, Kowali Estate. It’s 10 acres they have farmed actively since about 1985, but was a very old farm from way back when. They have 100 year old typica trees, but pictured here is Rita Cowell with her Jamaica Blue Mountain trees. It’s a small plot they have of this unique tree (also a Typica cultivar, but rounder cherry and seed, skinny leaf). This should illustrate the difference in the leaf – it does seem to have a slightly Bronze Tip like the Guatemalan Typica, but less so. It seems also to turn green soonafter, as pictured, making it look to me a bit like Caturra. It’s not though. Can you ever take enough pictured of coffee cherry? I cannot, clearly. This is the JBM tree, and shows some green, some ripe, and some over-ripe cherry on one branch. That’s why you rely so much on the skill of your pickers to select the right ones! And notice how loaded the branches are – as mentioned, 2005-2006 is a huge crop. As a novelty, Rita and Skip Cowell have a few Yellow Caturra along their farm road. Yes, that is ripe cherry on a Yellow Caturra tree. I think you can see the difference in the JBM cultivar and the Kona Typica – the cherry is more round, equally large, and the mark left by the flower bud (the circle on the end) is large and pronounced. the Cowell’s Doberman is very sweet, and has a great poch to survey the landscape, and every movement down the 2000 feet slope to the shoreline. Maria, Rita, Skip, Dog. Sorry Dog, I forgot your name, but you aren’t reading this anyway, are you. They also have one of the old Sivetz roasters, which basically blasts hot air upward into a fryer basket that you have to keep in motion. (Note the sign). Crude but effective! And true farm-fresh coffee for the Cowell’s own enjoyment all year long. How can I end a travelogue for such a wonderful trip? How about a blurry picture of a hamburger on the plane home. Sure, why not. In fact, United would not let us board, saying we were too late for the flight, with this subtext: Maria is disabled and would take longer to board. They wouldn’t even let us try to get the plane. Yes, it sorta pissed me off, because I think they would have let us try to make it (we had 25 minutes) if she was “abled”. We had to buy tickets on Aloha in order to get home that night, at the worst price. So my advice to you; visit Kona, come for the Coffee Festival, visit Mountain Thunder, buy cheap snorking gear and reef-walking shoes, rent a 4wd so you can get down the lava roads, eat at the small restaurants in Captain Cook, stay near Captain Cook (I don’t like Kailua Kona – too Boutiquey), go to the Kona Historic Society, buy a good map, check out the local tiny grocery stores, eat a Cocopan, and FLY ALOHA AIRLINES! Boo United!
