Waiaha River “Smooth Flowing” Kona Coffee – February 29, 2012

My first entry using only photos taken with iPhone 4s…

Chikao Kunitake is a simple man. He does not own a car and does not drive miles to go to work. He does not rely on electricity to watch TV, or power his household appliances.

Built by his grandparents, Chikao lives on a small coffee farm in Holualoa, Kona… but don’t be fooled if the place appears small and run-down, there’s something much bigger going on here.

Despite it being late in the season, my University of Hawaii colleagues and I were privileged to receive a first-hand experience to how the top-tier and award winning, “Waiaha River Kona Coffee,” is made by “Uncle Chik” and his brother on their Holualoa Estate.

After the fruits are picked and sorted for quality, they are sent through a machine that separates the seed from it’s flesh.

A motorized grate then shakes any residual pulp off of the beans, and moves the coffee forward to a large deck to dry.

To protect the drying coffee beans from rain, it is covered by a pulley-driven roof… which is drawn by hand. After it is dried, the coffee is swept through the roof.

If there are husks still present, they are removed… you can see the discarded ones covering the ground.

…and the remaining raw beans are stored in burlap sacks. When filled each bag is ~ 70 lbs each.

The beans are roasted in-house, and only 5 lbs at a time…

…and then are either ground or bagged whole.

I love this place… there are no shiny, stainless-steel machinery. No chemicals and fertilizers… No mass production methods. Uncle Chik doesn’t “sell-out” either. Many companies have offered him large amounts of money, to bulk purchase his seasonal coffee stocks… however, he declines. He makes sure to evenly distribute his “highly praised” product to many retailers, so that many people can share his specially made coffee. I’m amazed by how happy he is to work on his farm, and how much love he puts into product. I will forever be honored to have met such amazing man.

Since coffee is seasonal, he grows several types of fruits and vegetables (see a few of them below).

Papaya

Avocados and tangerines

Macadamia Nuts

Mahalo nui loa to Uncle Chik and his family for having us on your property. Much apologies in advance if I misconstrued your unique process. Thank you also to his brother for make us the dry-land taro Paiai was SO ONO!!! Please note: I did not detail the entire operation and his methods, as I would not want to give away what makes his “award-winning” coffee so “smooth-flowing.”

To visit the “Waiaha River Coffee Co.” website, click here. To view this location on a Google Map also known as my “Adventure Map“, Click Here. You can order coffee or contact them directly through their website. Try their coffee, I’m sure you won’t regret it! 😉

As Uncle would say, “thank you so much for visiting and please come back again soon!”