Who’s your daddy? That’s what The Paterson’s at Hula Daddy Coffee Company might be asking as they gloat about their record breaking score of 97 in 2009 from Coffeecuppers.com and continually scoring high since. Actually, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lee and Karen Paterson several times and they are very sincere, nice people. In fact, you could meet them yourself if you wanted to as they host their own coffee tours at the Hula Daddy Plantation. Something everyone should do if they visit Kona, Hawaii I might add. It’s like going to Napa Valley and not going on a wine tour. Even if someone were not a big wine drinker they would go on a wine tour if you were in Napa Valley.
For those of you who can’t visit Kona any time soon, let me tell you a little bit about what I learned after visiting my visiting the plantation. I don’t think its necessary to post a spoiler alert for those who do plan on taking the tour themselves. There’s nothing like walking through the flowers, taking in the view, and tasting the coffee for your self. Who cares if you might already know of the many reasons that make Hula Daddy coffee exceptional? Knowing that they only pick the perfect berry, and have successful farming procedures won’t stop you from enjoying the ocean view from an elevation of over 2,500 feet and tasting a complimentary cup of 100% Kona roasted that very day.
Good coffee has to start with good farming practices. It’s the attention to detail that is bringing the Hula Daddy coffee to the top. To pick the cherries when they are perfectly ripe, Hula Daddy picks every week as compared to every three weeks as some other farms do. And yes, these pickers are human! No machines here. After they are picked, the cherries are sorted out. What isn’t of high enough quality for Hula Daddy’s coffee will be sold to other farms. Only 1.5 pounds from each tree per year are sold as Hula Daddy coffee.
With such a precious yield it is vital to keep the infamous beetle borer at bay. This nasty invader has been wreaking havoc for the Kona coffee industry by drilling itself into half of the coffee bean and laying eggs. Some farms are experiencing damage to 85% of their crop! The Hula Daddy plantation has kept this villain down to 1% by hanging bottles of alcohol to attract and trap the beetle. This isn’t a certified organic farm, but they do all they can as naturally as possible to ensure quality.
“We try not to use the pesticides because it makes a difference in how the coffee tastes.” – Karen Paterson
They even make their own “black gold” compost with help from the local fishing industry. The Bite Me restaurant at the Honokahou Harbor sells fish caught from the Bite Me Charter boat, and the carcasses of those fish end up fertilizing the dirt six months later.
Trimmings from the coffee trees are also returned to the ground. Here’s a good article on Black Gold if you would like to learn more about this
organic process.
Ready to try some Hula Daddy coffee for yourself? You won’t find this product in stores anywhere, ever. The Paterson’s only make the fruit of their labor available to visitors of their plantation…or visitors of their website! Go to
www.HulaDaddy.com
