Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/50871
will overproduce in relevance to its nutrition budget," Ross said. "You have to be think- ing ahead in terms of trying to balance with your crop size and nutrition." Ross, a former research scientist for the geological survey of Canada, created a land- scape designed for coffee, with shade trees and other plants that work in harmony. His 1.5-acre coffee farm consists of approximately 500 trees, ranging in age from 10 months to 13 years, which creates a fierce blend. "You get a balanced, complex flavor," Ross says. "It's not a single-dimensional cup of coffee, and it's all done without trashing the land." One farm that may know more about the land than any other is Kona's Greenwell Farms. Tommy Greenwell is the fourth-generation farmer for his family's coffee farm, one of the oldest in Hawaii. Although Greenwell Farms is known for its large processing opera- tions (purchasing green coffee from other farms and selling green coffee worldwide), Greenwell also features a Private Reserve label that is made entirely from coffee grown on family property. This estate farm features 110-year-old trees that Greenwell's great- grandmother plant- ed, as well as a Typica variety called Old Hawaiian. Greenwell says that cultivar is "the original tree that came to Hawaii. I went out and hunt- ed for them after I heard stories about them." Kona Typica and Bourbon vari- etals are also mixed through the farm. ON THE WAY UP While Hawaiian DOING IT ALL: Kona's Greenwell Farms, one of Hawaii's oldest plantations, offers roasted coffee in addition to green product. coffee has begun to gain more of a national presence in the specialty scene, those work- ing in the trenches feel they have just begun to explore the state's coffee potential. "One thing I have found in Hawaii is that the coffee can be exceptional, but every farming region needs to tailor their methods to the plant, envi- ronment and resources," Licata says. Through patience and endurance, these quality controllers are working toward making Hawaiian synonymous with high quality, not- ing the distinct differences between each farm and modifying ways to improve the end result. "That is how amazing coffee is produced," Licata says. "There is not one magic formula to follow." freshcup.com January 2012 39