Shawn Steiman's Coffee Blog

It has been a long time since anything was posted, here.  Forgive me, please, faithful readers.  I missed several things worth writing back (like the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival and the new Kona Barista Jam) but I just couldn't make writing about them a priority.  In the last few months, I’ve been writing plenty, though.  If you’re interested in catching up on my words, you can read the Barista Magazine article, the Fresh Cup article, and The Honolulu Weekly article.  I’m also working on a much bigger writing project which has taken up a good chunk of my time.  As it gets closer to completion, I’ll share more information about it.  For now, let's talk cupping competitions.

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, the Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA) announced the winners of the 2011 Hawai‘i Statewide Cupping Competition.  Sort of. 

It isn’t everyday that you get to tell the world that your friend and colleague is a champion.  Today is one of those days.  If you haven’t already heard, the venerable Pete Licata, Director of Coffee Quality at Honolulu Coffee Company, is the 2011 United States Barista Champion!  While I’m tempted to tell you about this man, full of talent, integrity, and passion, I won’t; I know Barista Magazine will offer that in an upcoming issue.  Instead, I’m going to tell you about the remarkable process Pete went through to create his coffee and what this new title might mean.

Some two-odd years ago, I was introduced to Dennis McQuoid via coffee god Andrew Hetzel of Cafemakers.  He had begun planning his dream café and wanted some consultants to help him out.  On Friday, January 27, 2011, Dennis opened Beach Bum Café (BB Café, herein, in deference to the British Broadcasting Corporation).

Two and a half weeks ago, during the annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, the staple Gevalia Kona Cupping Competition took place.  To the best of my knowledge, there is no greater collection of Kona coffees in one place than this competition.  Submission is free and any farm in Kona is permitted to submit a sample.  This year, for the first time, I had the honor and pleasure of judging the competition.

On September 8th, the Hawai‘i Deparment of Agriculture officially announced that the coffee berry borer (a.k.a. CBB, broca, Hypothenemus hampei) had finally made it to Hawai‘i.  While the pest has probably been in Hawai‘i for at least a year (if not several), this is the first year it has been sighted in large and significant numbers (one farm reports 100% infestation!).  Currently, it is only found in Kona, on Hawai‘i Island.

This post is a summary of what this means for the Hawai‘i coffee industry. 

Knowledge is great, even if any given piece of information has no apparent use or benefit.  After all, what we know helps define who we are and how we think about the world.  Understanding ourselves tends to lead to richer, more meaningful interactions with the world and those in it.  Thus, when it comes to information about my past and the past of my community (in this case, the Hawai‘i coffee community), I’m keen to know and understand every piece of information as accurately as possible.  This includes just exactly when coffee first arrived to Hawai‘i.

If you’re reading this post, you probably already have seen the results of Hawai‘i’s second statewide cupping competition.  If not, the top 10 list can be found at the blog of Andrew Hetzel (Cafemakers), notable industry consultant, friend, and colleague.  Andrew, like others, has made note of the fact just how far down the list one must read before seeing a farm from the Kona region.  Since I feel that arena has been sufficiently covered, I’ll cover a different angle of the competition.

For the last few years, some roasters have been actively establishing relationships with farmers.  These direct trade relationships bypass many parties that typically exist between the farmer and roaster, thereby bringing the roaster closer to a coffee’s origin (think Slow Food).  Ideally, the farmer gets more money for the coffee as well as active feedback on quality from the buyer.  Coffee drinkers seem to be excited about this type of trading scheme and are supporting it with gusto.  Unfortunately, most coffee drinkers don’t get to have the direct relationship to the farmer but must live vicariously through the roaster.

Last weekend (May 1-2), the sleepy town of Pahala, on the southeast side of the Big Island, woke up.  For the second year, it celebrated its increasingly famous crop: coffee.  

Step right up ladies and gentlemen and witness the amazing.  The truth is out there.  And it goes by the name Pete Licata.

In Hawai‘i, the blending of Kona coffee with imported coffee is a regular controversy.  I’ve written about it before and I expect I’ll write about it again.  Today’s blog addresses a new development in the discussion.

Last week, I volunteered at a booth at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco.  The booth belonged to the Hawaii Coffee Association and its purpose was to promote Hawaiian coffees.  Few other booths were dedicated to coffee at the show, consequently, plenty of folks stopped to sample our brews.

Last week, I had the great pleasure of co-hosting the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe's (SCAE) origin tour to Hawai‘i.  Ok, I wasn't really hosting; rather, I was giving moral support.  Andrew Hetzel of Cafemakers did all the hard work and many hours of driving.  I just tagged along to offer what knowledge I could.

Recently, I traveled to Puerto Rico by invitation of their Dept. of Agriculture.  I spent a week exploring their Puerto Rico coffee industry.  I met farmers, processors, roasters, cafes and government personnel well versed in coffee.  They asked me to help them begin a specialty coffee segment of their industry.  

The Hawai‘i coffee industry is doing something right.  For the first time, a statewide cupping competition was held (July 9-12 at the Maui Tropical Plantation).  Sixty-nine farms, from 9 regions, submitted samples for the event. The Hawaii Coffee Association, host and organizer for the event, brought in three mainland coffee professionals (Shawn Hamilton, Paul Thornton, and Warren Muller) to roast and judge the coffees.  After a very close competition, Onouli Farm (Kona, Hawai‘i) took first place. 

      This content first appeared as a response letter to Hawai‘i State senators concerning a proposed bill (HB 931) to increase the blend content minimum of a Hawaiian blend from 10% to  51%.  The bill also stipulated that the origins of the coffees in the blend must be enumerated and labeled on the bag.  The letter has been modified here to accommodate new thoughts and opinions.

A few months ago, I had a conversation with a friend about whether the Hawai‘i coffee industry was diverse and dynamic. I had mostly forgotten about it until this weekend when I was at the 2009 Specialty Coffee Association of America’s (SCAA) Symposium and Exposition. While there, I found myself defending Hawaiian coffee quite a bit. It doesn’t get much respect.

I’ve met a lot of coffee folk who are very concerned that a coffee from a certain region should fit a flavor profile for that region. I can see how this made sense even 10 years ago. However, much has happened since then! We now seek coffees differentiated by descriptors and nuances. If we don’t want coffees to taste alike, how can we want regional taste profiles?

Welcome to a column where you get to experience classic blog rambling! The difference about this coffee blog is that it will try to supply you with regular grounds of knowledge about Hawai‘i’s coffee industry- from seed to cup. Truth be told, Hawai‘i isn’t all surf and sand. In fact, we have a thriving, albeit relatively small, coffee industry that not only grows coffee but consumes it as well!