 Lacking an underwater camera, tidepool shots of small corals was the best I could do. Actually we did some spectacular snorkeling, but alas, no pictures. |
 Oh, to be a brown, shapeless blob of goo, floating in the tidepool among the colorful fish and coral. I felt that not many people take, nor publish, pictures of Hawaiian algae - I try to be unique, I guess. |
 European tourists swarm on the City of Refuge at Honaunau. What they seek? A snapshot and a quick return to the AC on the tour bus! |
 Sacred Hawaiian Altar defiled by the German elderly! Kamehameha is rolls in his grave! Oh, it's a tourist economy so let them have their fun ... |
 There's a name for every type of lava, every solidified form, but I just think they look cool. There is a geologic reality to this place that you confront with nearly every step. Land is fresh, unweatherized. Erosion has not won yet, not here. I like that ... |
 Nonetheless, you see flora (read: a weed) spring up in the absence of soil. It's mundane, but amazing too. |
 Can you take a guy in a pink hat seriously? Maria thought no, but I tried anyway. |
 At Honaunau, Maria sought her own kind of refuge, not from the strict old Hawaiian laws but from the heat. Ok ... back to coffee... |
 Up the hill from Honaunau, in South Kona, is the Cowell's farm, Kowali Estate. It's 10 acres they have farmed actively since about 1985, but was a very old farm from way back when. They have 100 year old typica trees, but pictured here is Rita Cowell with her Jamaica Blue Mountain trees. It's a small plot they have of this unique tree (also a Typica cultivar, but rounder cherry and seed, skinny leaf). |
 This should illustrate the difference in the leaf - it does seem to have a slightly Bronze Tip like the Guatemalan Typica, but less so. It seems also to turn green soon after, as pictured, making it look to me a bit like Caturra. It's not though. |
 Can you ever take enough pictured of coffee cherry? I cannot, clearly. This is the JBM tree, and shows some green, some ripe, and some over-ripe cherry on one branch. That's why you rely so much on the skill of your pickers to select the right ones! And notice how loaded the branches are - as mentioned, 2005-2006 is a huge crop. |
 I think you can see the difference in the JBM cultivar and the Kona Typica - the cherry is more round, equally large, and the mark left by the flower bud (the circle on the end) is large and pronounced. |
 As a novelty, Rita and Skip Cowell have a few Yellow Caturra along their farm road. Yes, that is ripe cherry on a Yellow Caturra tree. |
 They also have one of the old Sivetz roasters, which basically blasts hot air upward into a fryer basket that you have to keep in motion. (Note the sign). Crude but effective! And true farm-fresh coffee for the Cowell's own enjoyment all year long. |
 Dogs in paradise - the Cowell's Doberman is very sweet, and has a great porch to survey the landscape, and every movement down the 2000 feet slope to the shoreline. |
 Maria, Rita, Skip, Dog. Sorry Dog, I forgot your name, but you aren't reading this anyway, are you. |
 How can I end a travelogue for such a wonderful trip? How about a blurry picture of a hamburger on the plane home. Sure, why not. In fact, United would not let us board, saying we were too late for the flight, with this subtext: Maria is disabled and would take longer to board. They wouldn't even let us try to get the plane. Yes, it sorta pissed me off, because I think they would have let us try to make it (we had 25 minutes) if she was "abled". We had to buy tickets on Aloha in order to get home that night, at the worst price. So my advice to you; visit Kona, come for the Coffee Festival, visit Mountain Thunder, buy cheap snorkleing gear and reef-walking shoes, rent a 4wd so you can get down the lava roads, eat at the small restaurants in Captain Cook, stay near Captain Cook (I don't like Kailua Kona - too Boutiquey), go to the Kona Historic Society, buy a good map, check out the local tiny grocery stores, eat a Cocopan, and FLY ALOHA AIRLINES! Boo United! |
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| 2005 Gevalia Kaffe Kona Coffee Cupping Competition Official List of Entrants |
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1. Po'okele Enterprises LLC 2. Full Moon Coffee 3. Heavenly Hawaiian Farms / The Other Farm 4. Kona Cafe 5. Kona Mountain 6. Kiele O Kona 7. The Kona Coffee & Tea Co. 8. Long Mountain Kona Results: 2nd Place 9. Lions Gate 10. DHC Ohana Farms 11. Kona Blossoms 12. Konacopia Farm (organic) 13. Zuma Farm 14. Pearl Estate Organics (organic) 15. Lehuula Farms 16. Rancho Aloha (organic) Results: 1st Place 17. Royal Palms Coffee Estate 18. Pumehana Plantation 19. Cherry P.I.E. Kona Coffee Co. 20. Hubbard & Sons Coffee Co. 21. Sacred Grounds Coffee Farm 22. Moki's Farm 23. Captain Cook Coffee Co. 24. Sunbean 25. G P Farms 26. Kowali Farms 27. Carroll Estate/ Mauka Fire Coffee 28. Kaloko Bayou 29. Holualoa Kona Coffee (organic) |
30. Kona Safari Farms 31. Pau Hana Estate ( organic) 32. Hula Daddy 33. Honu Kona Estate Farm 34. Panda's Bamboo Ranch (organic) 35. Buddha's Cup (organic) 36. Kona Rainforest Farms (organic) 37. Mamalahoa Trading Co. LLC 38. Haole Boy Coffee 39. The Funny Farm (organic) 40. Madison Kona Coffee 41. Ueda Kona Coffee 42. Cornerstone Farms 43. Kanalani Ohana Farm (organic) 44. Paradise Found Farm 45. Aikane Kona Coffee Results: 3rd Place 46. Greenwell Farms 47. BrocksenGate Estate (organic) 48. Blue Hedge Farm 49. Makapueo Farms 50. Lafayette Coffee (organic) 51. Kainaliu-Kona Coffee Co. 52. Arianna Farm's Ono Kona Coffee LLC 53. Lani Hau Farm (organic) 54. Koa Coffee Plantation 55. Lei's Beans 56. Ahiwai Farms (organic) 57. Kaibab Farms |
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