Hula Daddy has a reputation of being one of making the world’s best coffee from the Kona region.
Established by Lee and Karen Paterson in 2002, the couple invested in an 11 acre cow pasture in the Kona region of Hawai’i (the Big Island) to create one of the test best coffees in the world.
But to make sure it was done right, the couple hired a local agronomist who had a positive reputation for planning Kona Coffee plantations. Which would lead to the couple planting 7,000 coffee trees.
Three years later, the Paterson’s harvested their first crop but as years passed by, they noticed their coffee beans getting better and better and eventually earning Hula Daddy multiple awards and positive reviews.
But the couple didn’t stop there. They then hired a coffee expert from Minnesota, retained a soil consultant from the Napa Valley wine industry and changed every operation on the farm from planting to roasting.
An expensive endeavor, it paid off as Hula Daddy tripled their cost of production and the quality of their coffee became known worldwide.
So, where is Kona?
Kona is the orange portions of the map.
But to show even a more detailed map… As you can see, there are two major volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
Manua Loa is considered the largest volcano on Earth (Note: Research announced in 2013 that Tamu Massif, an extinct submarine shield volcano in the northwest Pacific Ocean, may now be the largest, but more research is being done) and is a sub aerial volcano and also an active shield volcano. Also, it’s non explosive. Mauna Loa’s most recent eruption was back in 1984
And the soil of Mauna Loa is rich volcanic oil and has a rain forest climate so, on the Hilo side, that is where the popular Macadamia nuts are grown.
Now that’s two of the volcanos I have discussed, but for this, I will discuss a third for coffee cultivating in the Big Island of Hawai’i.
Hualalai is an active volcano on the the Big Island and is the third most active of the five volcanoes after Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The volcano hasn’t erupted since 1801 and has been inactive for the last 2,000 years and the area had been inhabited by Hawaiian natives and is the home to many rare species and natural reserves.
While for Kona coffee, its cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa. Many coffee crops are grown on Hualalai’s western slope near the town of Holualoa. Hula Daddy is located in Holualoa:
Six years later, the company bought a 20-acre pasture at 2,500 feet on the slope of the Hualalai Volcano and by 2014, Hula Daddy was the top coffee in the Kona Cultural Festival Cupping Competition and in 2015, they were the top Kona Coffee and the Top Hawaiian Coffee in the Hawaiian Coffee Cupping Competition.
You are getting 100% Kona Coffee direct from the plantation and once again, I have to say, if you are or want to be a coffee connoisseur, when it comes to coffee from Kona District of Hawai’i, I’m talking Grade A 100% Kona Coffee, not prime “Kona Coffee” (the not so good coffee beans purchased by companies) which you see sold at a department store for cheap.
Also, Hawai’i is one of the most expensive places to live and there is no such thing as cheap labor. For quality coffee, beans that have to be picked and separated by hand, it all comes with a price.
Expect to pay a premium for quality coffee, similar to those who are used to spending a lot more money for fine wine. Also, to know you are getting authentic coffee from a region, you purchase direct from the farmers.
For today’s review, I am reviewing Hula Daddy’s Karen J Red Bourbon.
Back in 2010, Hula Daddy planted an Arabica coffee variety known as Red Bourboun a their Waiono Farm at 2,200 ft. By 2014, the cfirst commercial crop was ready and the Karen J Red Bourbon, which is named after Karen Paterson, would win the Kona Coffee Festival Cupping Competition as the best Kona Coffee.
CoffeeReview.com gave it a 94 and said, “We taste this coffee year-in and year-out, and it never fails to satisfy. This may be Kona’s version of a reliable non-vintage Champagne: consistently delicious”.
In 2015, the company repeated that success and also being named “Best Hawaiian Coffee” but that is not enough for Hula Daddy, they want to improve on it even more.
According to Karen Jue Paterson, they pick the fruit when it turns red and do not use ripe (yellow) or overripe (brown) beans because they are sour and astringent. So, there are more costs involved as they have to have their pickers only pick red fruit.
They then pour the coffee fruit on a table and throw away any fruit that is not red or was damaged. They then separate the fruit from the beans by running it through a mechanical pulper. The beans then go to a water bath to wash out any natural sugars because the sugars can mute the coffee flavor.
The freshly pulped beans stay in the water bath overnight, the natural enzymes lead to a fermentation process that makes the sugar coating soluble in water.
While most coffee washing ends after the first wash, Hula Daddy does a three-stage wash, trying to make sure all natural sugars have been removed.
The beans are then sun dried as Hula Daddy believes there are positive chemical changes in beans due to the sun.
Once the beans achieve below 20% moisure, they are put in a mechanical dryer which helps improve the roasting and then they are rested in large sacks for at least 60 days. The beans are sent to a dry mill where the parchment coating are removed from the green beans and also sorting out any bad beans.
Laura then roasts the beans and one tree produces about 7 pounds of coffee cherry, which by the time they complete the procedures, they end up with one pound of Karen J Red Bourbon.
The beans have a cocoa and flowery aroma but I like how it’s smooth, sweet and balanced. Quite delicious and I like it a lot.
I still have numerous other coffee to try from Hula Daddy and I still want to try their Laura’s Reserve SL28 when it’s in stock. But I will say that Hula Daddy’s Karen J Red Bourbon is highly recommended!
