Coffee Roast:	Medium
Body:	Medium
Characteristics:	Floral, Nutty

Accolades
92 points on CoffeeReview.com The highest rated Hawaiian coffee in the entire history of the Coffee Review!

Roastmaster Comments by R. Miguel Meza
Clean, sweet, fresh, and fragrant. A pristine cup that is so sweet and approachable it is almost tea-like. Its bouquet and flavors of brown sugar and orchids are reminiscent of fine Ti Kuan Yin Oolongs.

Background Info
Hawaiian coffee is one of the most prized coffees in the world. Everyone has heard of Kona, but there is a new name in Hawaiian coffee production that needs to be recognized - Ka'u. Ka'u is an emerging growing region located on the southern end of the Big Island on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa Volcano in close proximity to the Kilauea volcano. The soils are derived from volcanic ash, which contributes to the unique qualities of the coffee. The Ka'u district represents the southernmost area in the United States. The climate is rather dry, although not as dry as Kona. Coffee has been cultivated in Ka'u on a small scale since the 1800's. The collapse of the sugar plantations in 1996 created the motivation and the opportunity for more extensive coffee cultivation. Most of the coffee farms were planted in the late 1990's or early 2000's. Up until now most of the coffee produced in Ka'u has been sold to the big coffee companies in Kona at a discount to be used in "Hawaiian blends." Some of the farmers have created small "estate" brands for their coffee, marketed for the most part in local stores and farmer's markets and on the web.

Will & Grace Farms are operated by Will and Grace Tabios. They live in the town of Na'alehu, the southernmost community in the U.S. Will works part-time as a carpenter to supplement the coffee income. Grace sells vegetables, Filipino sweets, and their coffee at the farmer's market on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Na'alehu. Will and Grace started their farm in 2000 and finished planting in 2001. They have 6.8 acres planted with 5000 trees of Guatemalan/Kona Typica. An interesting note about their varietal: back in the late 1800's an Australian ship captain by the name of Searle came to this remote part of Hawaii. He acquired land in a mountain valley and planted sugar and coffee. However, his coffee venture was not successful due to difficulties in getting enough labor to pick the coffee. Will took cuttings from Searle's long-abandoned coffee trees to plant his farm. The processing method that Will & Grace use is to de-pulp, then soak overnight. In the morning the coffee is washed 2-3 times, the floaters are picked out by hand, then spread out on screens to drain for a couple of days. After this the coffee is put out in wooden trays to sun-dry for 10-12 days. Will checks the moisture content frequently and keeps a record of how long it takes each batch to dry.

Will and Grace's coffee was entered into the 2007 SCAA Cupping Pavilion where it placed 6th out of over 100 entries from around the world, an impressive achievement. Will says that some of the reasons for the quality of his coffee are that the varietal they use has a bigger cherry than is produced elsewhere in Hawaii, that he has a farm with good soil and adequate rainfall and that he did not plant any Caturra. Will is too modest to say it himself, but he takes excellent care of his trees and is very careful in his wet-processing and drying.