Ka‘u: Coffee is Our Specialty!

Mahalo to our supporters, friends and family for a successful weekend of coffee, food, crafts and fun!

Thousands of people joined us in Pahala to celebrate the Ka‘u Coffee Festival ho‘olaule‘a on Saturday. After many days of clouds and rain, the skies cleared and the sun shined throughout the morning. In the afternoon, the clouds returned to keep festival-goers cool, while mist enveloped Cloud Rest and the other Ka‘u Coffee-growing areas above Pahala. 

Skylark emceed throughout the day of entertainment, coffee tastings and recipe contest.
 

Mayor Billy Kenoi made an appearance and congratulated Bull and Jamie Kailiawa for their recent win as one of the top ten coffees in the world. He said it’s a win for all of Ka‘u.

Ka‘u Coffee Recipe and Taste of Ka‘u Contest:

Crystal McIntosh was named the overall winner. Here is her winning original Ka‘u coffee recipe:

Strawberry Mocha Trifle
     Brownies: 1 cup butter, melted; 2 c. sugar; 4 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, 2/3 c. cocoa, 1 1/3 c. flour, 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 c. white chocolate chips, Ka‘u macadamia nuts chopped, ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, 1 c. Ka‘u coffee, Hershey’s syrup, 1 pint whipping cream, 6 Tbs. sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 5 c. strawberries soaked in 2 c. melted strawberry jam.
     Garnishes: 1 Ka‘u strawberry, 2 chocolate leaves (1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips melted + 2 Ka‘u lemon leaves, clean)
     Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 13X9 pan. Stir butter and sugar until blended. Beat in eggs, then vanilla, until well blended. Stir in cocoa, mixing well. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into small bowls; stir together. Add flour mixture to chocolate batter, mixing until smooth. Stir in semi-sweet and white chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake 25-30 minutes or until firm. Cool, and then cut into 1-inch cubes. Place half of brownie cubes on bottom of large glass bowl. Brush with coffee, then drizzle with Hershey’s syrup. Layer ½ of strawberries using slotted spoon, then ½ of whipped cream. Repeat layers, garnish with strawberry and chocolate leaves.
     Whipped Cream – beat whipping cream and sugar in chilled bowl until stiff. Add vanilla in last minute of beating.
     Chocolate leaves – brush melted chocolate onto one side of clean leaves until covered. Freeze overnight or until firm. Peel off lemon leaves. 

The two-day festival wound up with a day of education on Sunday from coffee roasters, buyers and café chain owners who have been in the business for many years. They stressed the importance of the place, which they admired as a good coffee growing location in the mountains of Ka‘u. They stressed good farm practices, processing and storage and described many techniques to farmers on hand. They noted that the best coffee can bring a high price to people who want the highest grade coffee for their restaurants, stores and homes.

Recently in the news:

The Ka‘u Coffee Festival made the front page of West Hawai‘i Today on Sunday. Reporter Chelsea Jensen quoted Joann Norberte as saying, “Ka‘u Coffee is like Kona’s younger, hotter sister.” Promoter of her family’s JN Coffee Farms, Norberte told West Hawai‘i Today that “coffee all happened in Kona first, and we were able to learn from the good and bad to create a special coffee.” Joann Norberte, daughter of Leo and Herme Norberte, grew up in Pahala and lives in Las Vegas, where she promotes here family coffee online and to buyers and at conventions. The farm has 25 acres and produces 200,000 pounds of cherry each year. She also told the newspaper that she knows that the Ka‘u farmers will pull together to keep the coffee borer pest from spreading and ruining crops.