Why Freshness Defines Kona Coffee ☕️🌺
One of the qualities that sets our Kona coffee apart is the care taken at every step of the process. After the ripe cherries are handpicked, they are processed as quickly as possible to preserve quality. Once dried to a stable moisture level—typically below 12% through sun-drying or controlled drying—the coffee rests in its protective parchment. Most coffee farmers, including us, allow the parchment coffee to age for several weeks so the moisture can stabilize and the bean can develop a more balanced, refined flavor before hulling and roasting.
Where true freshness comes in is not in skipping this essential resting period, but in roasting only when orders come in, rather than roasting in large batches that sit on shelves and lose complexity over time. By roasting to order, the natural sweetness and smooth profile of Kona coffee remain at their peak. Each roast reflects the nuances of the season and the care taken from harvest through drying and resting.
The result is a cup that tastes vibrant, clean, and distinctly Hawaiian. For those who value intentional, high-quality coffee, Kona’s combination of careful processing and roast-to-order freshness delivers a difference you can genuinely taste.
Exploring Different Ways to Brew Coffee—and the Benefits of Each
There’s no single “right” way to brew coffee—each method brings out unique flavors and textures that can completely transform your cup. Pour-over methods like the Hario V60 or Kalita Wave highlight clarity and brightness, making them perfect for enjoying the natural sweetness and subtle notes of Kona coffee. French press brewing offers a fuller body and richer mouthfeel by allowing the coffee’s oils to shine through. For a smooth and naturally mellow flavor, cold brew uses a slow steeping process that reduces acidity while delivering a refreshing, concentrated coffee that’s great over ice. Meanwhile, espresso brewing extracts bold, intense flavor in seconds, making it ideal for lattes, cappuccinos, and anyone who enjoys a rich, concentrated taste.
Each brewing style offers its own experience, allowing you to tailor your cup to your mood, routine, or flavor preference. Whether you prefer the clean finish of pour-over, the deep richness of French press, or the smooth chill of cold brew, experimenting with different methods helps you discover new dimensions of your favorite beans. Kona coffee’s naturally balanced profile makes it versatile across all these brewing techniques—so the best method is simply the one that helps you savor every sip.
Hawai‘i-grown vanilla is truly a labor of love.
On our farm, each delicate bloom opens for just a few hours—and unlike many crops, the usual bee pollinators don’t do the job. Because Vanilla planifolia doesn’t receive reliable natural pollination outside of its native habitat, vanilla beans grown in other climates must be pollinated by hand to produce beans.
For more information on vanilla pollination and processing check out this article from The University of Hawai'i at Manoa: Click Here To Read
From hand-pollinated blossoms to richly aromatic beans, every step matters. The result? Deep, pure vanilla flavor grown with patience, care and Aloha.
Why Kona Coffee Is So Special: A Sip of Aloha
At Huahua Farm, we believe that every great cup of coffee tells a story — and it all begins with where it’s grown. Around the world, coffee takes on unique flavors shaped by the land, the altitude, and even the air. From the highlands of Ethiopia to the mountains of Colombia, each region adds its own magic to the beans.
Here on Hawaii’s Big Island, our 100% Kona coffee is blessed by rich volcanic soil, gentle sunshine, afternoon rain showers, and the cool mountain breezes that sweep through the Kona region. This perfect harmony of nature gives Kona coffee its smooth and rich flavor — a true taste of aloha in every sip.
So next time you pour yourself a cup, take a moment to appreciate the land that grew it. At Huahua Farm, we’re proud to share our little corner of paradise with you, one cup of Kona at a time.
Autumn in Kona: A Time to Celebrate Coffee and Culture
As autumn settles over Kona, the community comes alive with the sights and sounds of the season. On November 9, 2025, the annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival and Holualoa Village Coffee & Art Stroll — cherished local traditions that highlight the artistry, craftsmanship, and heritage behind every cup of Kona coffee.
Although Huahua Farm won’t be participating this year, we encourage everyone to visit, explore, and support the many local farmers, artists, and roasters who make this region so special. The festival offers a wonderful opportunity to experience the spirit of Kona — where culture, community, and coffee all come together.
Whether you’re a longtime fan of 100% Kona coffee or discovering it for the first time, this season is the perfect reminder of why Kona remains one of the world’s most celebrated coffee-growing regions.
Learn more about the Kona Coffee festivities and plan your visit here.
Coffee and Macadamia Nuts Keeping Us Busy
This is the time of year that our activities are divided among our crops. The beautiful Kona coffee is especially productive with coffee beans that are larger than normal. Poor branches are bending over. We are grateful for all the rainy days earlier this year.
Right now we are drying parchment coffee on very large tarps spread on our driveway. The parchment spends a few days on drying tables to drip dry and then moved to the tarps in full sun to complete the drying before they are stored. This process saves us at least a week of drying.
At the same time, macadamia nuts cover the ground in our mac fields. Macadamia nuts do not ripen on the tree and are gathered from the ground. For a while, these nuts will rest on the ground until we have a break in coffee picking.
We spent some time last July pruning the cacao trees to improve their health. They seem to appreciate our efforts and are covered in their tiny blossoms. To try new efforts on the vanilla beans, we planted slips of vanilla vines around the base of several of the cacao trees. This is a common method in some other countries that grow vanilla commercially. The short cacao trees provide support and the right amount of shade for the vines.
Of course the news once again is Madame Pele and the volcanic eruptions - around 100 miles away from us and fortunately this time, once again, the eruption is contained within Halema`uma`u Crater.
May Happenings
Once again I have neglected posting updates to the website. So, just to get up to date …
It has been a rainy spring, over 9” of rain in April. Green is definitely the primary color as I look out at the property. The coffee trees are full of their shiny green leaves and new green coffee beans. Ditto with the macadamia trees - leaves and green husked macnuts.
I have finally found time and energy to regenerate my vegetable gardens and we are enjoying an abundance of tomatoes, yams, and eggplants plus all the herbs and fresh fruit. Zucchini and yellow squash are just sprouting and the pineapple patch has pineapples so heavy they are leaning over on the ground. Our soursop tree gave us a huge soursop that I used to make soursop ice cream. So good, and there was enough left to freeze for future soursop jam. After many months of avocados everywhere, the trees are taking a break We now wished we had frozen some.
Mothers’ Day was yesterday and we had a houseful of relatives. Wonderful to have everyone together to celebrate family. There was a bountiful meal ending with homemade mango sorbet, followed by silly games.
End of Season
Last week the rest of the coffee cherry was picked and processed. Today the coffee parchment was dry enough to put away in storage. And that ends the coffee season for us. This is very early and unfortunately our crop was reduced along with most of the other Kona coffee farmers for various reasons. Extreme pruning to try to control coffee leaf rust was the primary reason for our lower production numbers.
On the bright side, we now have a buyer for the bulk of our macadamia nuts. Our previous buyer is no longer buying macadamia nuts from farmers and we were left with a large crop and no place to sell it. We did process a lot more nuts than usual and now have a nice store of roasted and vacuum packed nuts. They will be on sale soon, in time for customers to stock up on macadamia nuts for the holidays.
Sunny Sunday before Memorial day
As usual I have neglected to add any updates. Same old excuse - busy, busy, busy. We are in a slow time now. The coffee trees are overloaded with green coffee and are very healthy this year. Lots of rain and better attention to maintenance of the orchard are showing. Primary activities are suckering the coffee trees - trimming off all new vertical sprouts growing off the main branches, and surveying the coffee for signs of insects and fungal diseases. So far they look clean.
The macadamia processors are still not buying from individual farmers so we are harvesting the nuts, de-husking them and letting them dry for a few weeks before storing them. Hoping they will start buying nuts soon. Our coffee storage shed is filling up.
This is the first year for vanilla production after most of the vines died from a soil fungus. The new vines look gret and I’m pollinating the flowers most mornings. It will be a small crop but better than nothing.
News from Huahua Farm
Welcome to the new Huahua Farm website.
This time of the year, we are in the middle of both coffee and macadamia nut production. Coffee just picked off the tree is called coffee cherry - as can be seen in the many photos of coffee, it looks like cherry fruit. We are selling about 75% of our production as coffee cherry and we process and roast the rest for sale.
Usually we sell about 90% of our macnut production as “wet in shell” - picked up off the ground, put in a bag and sold to a macadamia nut processor. Unfortunately, due to reduced sales of the processor, we received a notice that they are only processing nuts from their acreage and not accepting any from small farms like ours. We usually sell approximately 14,000 pounds as wet in shell. The two other processors on the island are in the same situation.
Now, we have a large problem. This past Sunday, our pickers brought in 28 bags of nuts. Each bag holds about 55 pounds. Fortunately we have a macadamia nut husker, so I started running macnuts through the husker yesterday. So far there are 7 empty bags - just 21 to go. We have decided to husk the nuts, float them to toss bad nuts, and spread them to dry on the coffee drying tables. After a few weeks they will be dry enough to store for many months. Hopefully, by 2nd quarter 2021 the processors will be able to start purchasing nuts again.
Enjoy our website and let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Aloha