Who is John Ah San?
John Ah San is the owner of our Ka’u coffee estate, entrusted by Senator Daniel Inouye in 1989 to develop coffee in Ka’u.
Our farm, Kau Ocean Vista Coffee Estate, is just outside the town of Pahala, near the southern tip of Hawaii Island (P.O. Box 503 Pahala, HI 96777).
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1989: Land entrusted by a hero of Hawaii
The history of Ka’u coffee begins in 1989, when Senator Daniel Inouye personally entrusted John with developing a coffee farm in the Ka’u district of Hawaii Island. Daniel Inouye, then a U.S. senator, was a hero of Hawaii and the first Japanese American to serve in both houses of Congress.
The Ka’u district had been sugarcane country, but the industry was in steady decline. “What should we do with the old sugarcane fields?” When John was asked for advice, he turned to coffee, which was already thriving in the Kona district of Hawaii Island.
How sugarcane land became coffee land
It was John who created the first commercial coffee fields in the Ka’u district, by bringing coffee trees from the Kona district and planting them here. Some families had grown coffee at home before, but coffee as an industry in Ka’u was born at this moment.
The modern history of Hawaii cannot be told without immigrants and sugarcane plantations. The Ka’u district had been sugarcane land since the late 1800s. The sugar industry changed shape on each island, and in Ka’u it finally came to an end in 1996. To remake the land, the fields were burned at the time.
Kona already had many coffee farms then, but its poor soil and relatively dry climate made harvests difficult. Ka’u, on the other hand, sits on the vast lava plateau of Hawaii Island and was one of the few places blessed with good soil. 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.
Why is John called the "coffee doctor"?
John is called the “coffee doctor” because he advises many coffee farms on Hawaii Island and continues to take on requests from the University of Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He shares his experience and knowledge not only on his own farm but with other farms, telling them “here is what you should try,” and so contributes to raising the quality of coffee across the Ka’u district. His advice reaches farms in the Kona district as well.
Before he grew coffee, John was a dairy farmer. The idea of planting a perennial peanut ground cover at the base of the coffee trees came from watching the condition of cows that had eaten this plant (see Natural Farming).
The meaning of the phoenix in our logo
The phoenix in the farm’s logo stands for “new crops growing again from burned land.” A few years ago, John asked Miyuki of Kayama LLC, “Why do you think I chose a phoenix for the farm’s logo?” and, pointing at the farm, told her the history of the Ka’u district.
From sugarcane to coffee, the same land gave birth to a new life. John likened this to the bird that does not die, the phoenix. The circle of the logo carries the words “100% - KA’U COFFEE.”
Lori, John's daughter, and the farm team
Farm manager Lori Ah San is John’s daughter and co-runs the farm, working to keep the quality of our Ka’u coffee.
On an ordinary day John wears a T-shirt with holes from farm work, but Lori loves fashion. For official occasions such as photo shoots and webinars she always asks, “What are you going to wear?” and prepares matching outfits from Hawaiian brand stores. When we exhibited at Foodex Japan at Makuhari Messe, Lori was in charge of the outfits every day for all four days.
The farm has hard-working hands, including Moani. During the harvest season these people support the farm, and Ka’u coffee crosses the Pacific to Japan.
Ka'u Coffee and John: A Timeline
- Late 1800s
- Sugarcane farming begins in the Ka’u district.
- 1989
- Senator Daniel Inouye personally entrusts John with developing a coffee farm in the Ka’u district. John brings coffee trees from the Kona district, and the first commercial coffee fields in Ka’u are born.
- 1996
- The sugar industry in the Ka’u district finally comes to an end.
- 2017
- Kayama LLC exhibits for the first time at Foodex Japan, the food and beverage trade show at Makuhari Messe (in a booth related to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture). John serves Ka’u coffee to visitors for four days.
- May 2018
- Kilauea erupts. The volcanic ash that falls on the farm becomes a natural fertilizer.
- August 2020
- Sales in Japan begin with the motto “Change what people expect from black coffee.”
- October 2020
- Certified under the Hawaii Seal of Quality, the quality certification program of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.
- March 2025
- Our roasted beans become a thank-you gift in the Furusato Nozei (hometown tax donation) program of Shinjuku City, Tokyo (March 7, 2025).
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the farm?
What is Ka'u coffee?
Taste John's Ka'u Coffee
The farm today
Kau Ocean Vista Coffee Estate is just outside the town of Pahala, near the southern tip of Hawaii Island. It sits at an elevation of 350 meters with a wide view, and from the farm you can look out over the Hawaiian ocean (as of a January 2021 article, the farm was 8.5 acres).
During the roughly eight months of the harvest season, John has no Sundays. He hand-picks red coffee cherries from morning until evening, runs the wet mill in the evening, and finishes all the work, including preparing the dry mill for the next day’s sun, at around 8 p.m. See From Harvest to Cup for the details of each step.
Related articles (in Japanese)
English versions of our blog are planned for a later phase. The articles below are in Japanese.
- Farm owner John and farm manager Lori: John’s high school photo and Lori’s matching outfits (Japanese)
- The meaning of our farm’s logo and the history of Hawaii: from sugarcane to coffee, and why we chose the phoenix (Japanese)
- Moani, the hardest worker on our Ka’u coffee farm: John’s right hand on the farm (Japanese)
Key Points on This Page
- In 1989, Senator Daniel Inouye personally entrusted John Ah San with developing a coffee farm in the Ka’u district of Hawaii Island.
- John brought coffee trees from the Kona district and built the first commercial coffee fields in Ka’u on former sugarcane land (sugarcane from the late 1800s to 1996).
- The phoenix in our logo stands for “a new life born from the same land.” The farm sits at 350 meters and covered 8.5 acres as of January 2021.