What makes Ka'u coffee special?
Ka’u coffee owes its taste to the land: good soil on a vast lava plateau, moderate rain and steady breezes.
Half of the reason for the taste is the land. The other half, natural farming and the semi-washed process, is explained on the Natural Farming and From Harvest to Cup pages.
Updated
Why does coffee taste better when it grows in Ka'u?
Because the Ka’u district sits on the vast lava plateau of Hawaii Island and is one of the few places blessed with good soil. When John started growing coffee in 1989, the Kona district already had many coffee farms, but its poor soil and relatively dry climate made harvests difficult there.
John started out hoping for the same taste as Kona coffee, but because the soil and climate are different, the coffee turned out completely different from coffee grown in Kona, and tasted better than anyone expected.
Soil and climate: Ka'u versus Kona
| Item | Ka'u district | Kona district |
|---|---|---|
| Soil | Fine, loose soil built up in layers | Coarse soil, like crushed lava |
| Climate | Moderate rainfall and steady breezes | Hot and dry |
| Background | Former sugarcane land. Sits on a vast lava plateau and is one of the few places blessed with good soil | Already had many coffee farms in 1989 |
The soil and climate descriptions are taken from the comparison chart (with photos) on our Feature page. The Kona description is what John saw in 1989. This site does not give figures such as elevation or annual rainfall.
The 2018 Kilauea eruption and volcanic ash, a natural fertilizer
The volcanic ash that kept falling on the farm after the May 2018 eruption of Kilauea became a “natural fertilizer” for the coffee trees. The eruption came from Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and the Ka’u district is less than 30 minutes south of there.
Would the coffee trees be all right? To a worried Miyuki of Kayama LLC, John said: “The coffee trees are reaching out their hands and saying, give me more, give me more!” Fresh volcanic ash, just born from the earth, is a natural fertilizer, and once it falls on the soil it becomes the best nourishment there is. Ash that gets wet and sticks to the leaves keeps them from breathing, but the breeze that blows through Ka’u shakes the ash off the leaves and onto the ground just right.
This is how the coffee trees of Ka’u came through a natural disaster.
Taste profile: 5-point scale
| Aroma | Bitterness | Acidity | Sweetness | Body |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★★★★★ (5) | ★ (1) | ★★ (2) | ★★★★ (4) | ★★★★★ (5) |
Source: the chart “Ka’u coffee taste, 5-point scale” on our Feature page. Body is the density of the liquid; you could also call it mouthfeel or texture. A high body rating means the coffee has weight, a rich feel on the tongue, smoothness and depth.
Rich aroma, refined fruitiness and sweetness with little bitterness, moderate acidity and a soft body
Ka’u coffee has a rich aroma, refined fruitiness and sweetness with little bitterness, moderate acidity and a soft body. In his video, John describes it as “a very mild, pleasant coffee, with the flavor of fruit.”
“Coffee: from bitter to sweet.” Masashi Yamazaki of M.G.K. Inc., our distributor in Japan, used to drink only sweetened coffee, and Ka’u coffee is what turned him on to black coffee.
Variety and harvest season
Ka’u coffee is harvested from trees of the Arabica variety Typica. John’s fields also have Yellow Bourbon trees (a variety whose cherries ripen to a deep yellow instead of red), but not in quantities we can sell. We have also started growing the Geisha variety, and will sell it once production reaches a steady volume (as of an October 2020 article).
Because Hawaii Island is in the subtropics, there is basically one harvest a year. We hand-pick the red, ripe coffee cherries. The harvest is in full swing until December and continues into early February. Hawaii Island lies at the northern edge of the coffee belt (25 degrees north to 25 degrees south).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ka'u coffee?
How is it different from Kona coffee?
The taste of this land, in one cup
Key Points on This Page
- The Ka’u district sits on the vast lava plateau of Hawaii Island and is one of the few places blessed with good soil: fine, loose soil built up in layers, with moderate rainfall and steady breezes.
- The volcanic ash from the May 2018 Kilauea eruption was, in John’s words, a “natural fertilizer.” The Ka’u breeze shook the ash off the leaves and onto the ground.
- On a 5-point scale the taste is aroma 5, bitterness 1, acidity 2, sweetness 4, body 5. The variety is Arabica Typica, with one harvest a year (peak until December, continuing into early February).
Related articles (in Japanese)
English versions of our blog are planned for a later phase. The articles below are in Japanese.
- The 2018 Kilauea eruption and what it gave our Ka’u coffee farm (Japanese)
- The growing conditions coffee needs (Japanese)
- About the coffee tree: species, varieties and names (Japanese)
- Coffee beans have a season: how beans are classified by harvest time (Japanese)
- Bright yellow coffee cherries: Yellow Bourbon (Japanese)