More on Waialua Estate Coffee

Actually being on a coffee farm, surrounded by coffee plants filled with 'soon to be ripe' cherry - is a site to behold and excites us at Kohana Coffee. It's a chance for us to view the new crop while making decisions in our head of how we'll add to, change or take away from the product line we currently offer. But more importantly, it's the promise of what's ahead. If we see healthy, full plants and know of optimum conditions that took them there - we visualize how great that coffee will cup and the expressions on the faces of satisfied customers.

In the Waialua Estate Coffee fields (waialuaestate.com) we saw every example of cherry on the plant. The photo here is green cherry beginning to hedge yellow before the red of ripeness. We saw raisin - that's basically overripe cherry that's protected in it's dried fruit covering. We also tasted those coffees and marveled in the added fruit present in the cup.

Our tour and tasting was led by Derek Lanter and our group was Victoria, myself, my son - Zach, his girlfriend - Sarah Kate and a local foodie/cyclist/ Lori Barth of Sugarmillbikes.com. We learned a lot - as we always do - and came away feeling smarter about the craft we love dearly.

We love being on the North Shore - have I said that lately?

Piper