Skip to content

Hawaii KAU with Hawaiian breeze.

Wholesale & Import InquiryFor retailers, cafes and importers

ENJA

Hawaii KAU Coffee

Hawaii KAU with Hawaiian breeze.

From John's farm in the Ka'u District, Hawaii Island.

Discover Ka'u Coffee Wholesale & Import Inquiry

Not Cow, It's Ka'u!

Ka’u coffee is coffee grown in the Ka’u district of Hawaii Island, known for its rich aroma, low bitterness and soft body.

At tastings held before we entered the Japanese market, people sometimes asked, “Cow coffee?” Ka’u coffee is a rare Hawaiian coffee that is hardly distributed in Japan.

John's Story

John's Story

Farm owner John looking at green coffee cherries on a coffee tree

In 1989, Senator Daniel Inouye, a hero of Hawaii, entrusted John with developing coffee farming in the Ka'u district.

Our farm owner, John Ah San, brought coffee trees from the Kona district to land where sugarcane farming had declined, and built the first commercial coffee fields in the Ka’u district. Because the soil and climate in Ka’u are different, the coffee grown here turned out completely different from coffee grown in Kona, and tasted better than anyone expected.

Read John's Story

Three Proofs Behind Ka'u Coffee

Rows of coffee trees on a slope above the ocean, with a dirt farm road running through the estate

Good soil on a vast lava plateau.

The Ka’u district sits on a vast lava plateau on the southeastern side of Hawaii Island and is one of the few places blessed with good soil. Fine, loose soil built up in layers, moderate rainfall and steady breezes produce a taste completely different from Kona.

See how Ka'u differs from Kona

A Message from John

Watch on YouTube

Farm owner John Ah San introduces Ka’u coffee from Kau Ocean Vista Coffee Estate.

Read the transcript

Products

No1 Grade
Peaberry
A rare, round coffee bean. The seed that normally splits into two halves grows as a single bean. 100% Ka'u coffee from our estate on Hawaii Island.
- Rich aroma
- Refined fruitiness and sweetness with little bitterness
- Moderate acidity
- Soft body
See the shop for current prices
View in the online shop (ships within Japan only)Opens an external site Read more
No2 Grade
Extra Fancy
The top grade of flat beans. We select large, thick beans. 100% Ka'u coffee from our estate on Hawaii Island.
- Rich aroma
- Refined fruitiness and sweetness with little bitterness
- Moderate acidity
- Soft body
See the shop for current prices
View in the online shop (ships within Japan only)Opens an external site Read more

Three Ways to Buy

Online shop (ships within Japan only)
Best forFor customers in Japan who want to try it now
The Ka’u coffee page at NN DRINKS carries Peaberry 100 g (No1 Grade) and Extra Fancy 100 g and 1 kg (No2 Grade). The shop ships within Japan only. Please check prices and stock on the shop page.
Visit the shopOpens an external site
Furusato Nozei (hometown tax donation)
Best forFor taxpayers in Japan who donate to Shinjuku City, Tokyo
Shinjuku City, Tokyo offers our roasted beans 200 g (Extra Fancy) as a thank-you gift for a donation of 18,000 yen. The program is available to taxpayers in Japan; details are on our Japanese pages.
How to buy
Wholesale & Import Inquiry
Best forFor retailers, cafes, restaurants and importers
Trading starts after a review. We do not wholesale to businesses that sell only on the internet. Inquiries go through the form of M.G.K. Inc., our distributor in Japan.
Wholesale & Import Inquiry

How to Brew (French Press)

Get a French press ready
Our farm owner John is a French press person. A paper filter absorbs the coffee oils, which you could call the aroma of the coffee.
Pour hot water over the ground coffee
Put the ground coffee in the pot, pour in the hot water and wait. Extracting the coffee oils along with the coffee gives it body and a mellow taste.
Press down and pour
Slowly press the metal filter down and pour into your cup. After use, rinse the coffee grounds out of the mesh thoroughly.

See the full brewing guide

Red and green coffee cherries on a branch

Cascara Tea

One tree, coffee and tea.

Cascara tea (coffee cherry tea) is a tea made by drying the skin and pulp of the coffee cherry. It is fruity and sweet, with a grape-like taste and the color and tartness of hibiscus tea.

What is cascara tea?

Hawaiian breeze

Hawaiian breeze

Looking down on the Pacific from the farm, a lookout about 350 meters above sea level.
Farm owner John Ah San. He has grown coffee in Ka'u since 1989.
Pickers at harvest time. Only the red, ripe cherries are picked by hand.
The sun-drying shed. The beans are turned every day as they dry.
Coffee trees in bloom, and the sea. On Hawaii Island the trees flower around February.
John throwing a shaka on the farm at harvest time.
Hand-picked coffee cherries. The pickers choose the ripe red ones.
Cherries ripen at different speeds even on the same branch. The red ones are picked first.

More photos and videos

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ka'u coffee?

Ka'u coffee is coffee grown in the Ka'u district on the southeastern side of Hawaii Island. It is known for a rich aroma, a refined sweetness with little bitterness, and a soft body. Every bean Hawaii KAU Coffee sells is grown and processed at one farm, Kau Ocean Vista Coffee Estate in Pahala, Ka'u, owned by John Ah San.

How is it different from Kona coffee?

Both are grown on Hawaii Island, but the land is different. Kona has poor, rather dry soil that made harvests difficult, while Ka'u sits on a vast lava plateau and is one of the few places blessed with good soil. Farm owner John Ah San started out expecting the same taste as Kona, but because the soil and climate differ, the coffee turned out to be something else entirely, and tasted better than he expected. See our page on Ka'u vs. Kona for a fuller comparison.

Where can I buy it?

From the Ka'u coffee pages of the NN DRINKS online shop, which ships within Japan only. The three products are Extra Fancy 100 g, Peaberry 100 g and Extra Fancy 1 kg; check the shop for prices and stock. Taxpayers in Japan can also receive it as a Furusato Nozei (hometown tax) gift from Shinjuku City, Tokyo.

How should I store the beans?

Beans usually release their gas 3 to 5 days after roasting, which is when they brew a clear cup. After that the beans keep breathing and the flavor changes day by day. Coffee farmers commonly store beans in a zip-top bag with the air pressed out, at room temperature.

Do you sell wholesale or to businesses?

Yes. We welcome wholesale inquiries from businesses. We do not, however, wholesale to sole proprietors or companies that sell online only, and trading is subject to review. Please send your inquiry through the contact form of M.G.K. Inc., our distributor in Japan.

See all questions

Contact Us

For questions about our products, media and PR, please use the inquiry form of M.G.K. Inc., the company that runs this site in Japan.

Go to the inquiry form

Wholesale & Import Inquiry

For retailers, cafes, restaurants and importers. Trading starts after a review. Please read the conditions before you contact us.

Wholesale & Import Inquiry

Ka'u coffee from Hawaii Island, delivered in Japan.

Wholesale & Import Inquiry Online shop (ships within Japan only)Opens an external site How to buy

About Hawaii KAU Coffee

Hawaii KAU Coffee is the brand that brings Ka’u coffee grown at Kau Ocean Vista Coffee Estate, in the Ka’u district of Hawaii Island, to Japan. With the motto “Change what people expect from black coffee,” we started selling in Japan in August 2020.

Coffee: from bitter to sweet. A rich aroma, refined fruitiness and sweetness with little bitterness, moderate acidity and a soft body. Enjoy the taste of the soil, the wind and the air of Ka’u in a single cup.

Key Points on This Page

Ka’u coffee is a single-origin (100% Ka’u) coffee grown at Kau Ocean Vista Coffee Estate (owner: John Ah San) in the Ka’u district on the southeastern side of Hawaii Island.
In 1989, Senator Daniel Inouye entrusted John with developing the farm. John grows the coffee with natural farming and the semi-washed process, and the coffee was certified under the Hawaii Seal of Quality in October 2020.
There are three ways to buy: the NN DRINKS online shop (ships within Japan only), the Furusato Nozei program of Shinjuku City, Tokyo (18,000 yen donation), and wholesale for retailers and importers (subject to review).