Just back from the 2011 Southwest Regional Barista Championship in Hollywood, where Pete Licata of Honolulu Coffee Company won, with all-Hawaiian blends that he picked (from Miguel Meza's backyard), processed and roasted himself. I think I know where I might look first, if I were interested in all-Hawaiian espresso.


...split from Espresso Blend Does Not (Always) Mean Dark-Roasted by moderator...

UPDATE: This afternoon (5/1/11) Pete and his amazin' Hawaiian beans took the USBC!

Thanks for the lead, Marshall. To follow up I did some research by first going online to Honolulu Coffee Company. http://www.honolulucoffee.com/v2/index.php?platform=desktop Their "Contact Us" link for e-mail doesn't work, so I called one of the stores and was told that one of their blends is specifically for espresso, the Honolulu Blend. It's 10% Kona blended with coffees from Latin America, Sumatra and Ethiopia and is listed as having an "Italian roast." Not sure what that roast level is, and I suspect it's darker than to my usual taste, and such blends can be gotten in many places without the Kona component. But the woman I spoke with also said they have a "Golden Glow" blend of Maui and Kona coffees that is also good for espresso and runs $29 for 12 oz. It's not listed on their web site, so one needs to call them to order it. The store number I called was (808) 949-1500. That looked to me like it "might be" similar to a blend Pete Licata used for an SCAA prize-winning run in 2010 consisting of the Maui Mokka I tried last summer from Ka'anapali Estates (MauiGrown Coffee Company) http://www.mauigrowncoffee.com/StoreFront.bok and a very interesting blend from Hula Daddy Coffee Company. Here's a link to a write-up of that on Roaste.com: http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/shawn/Hello-World-Here-comes-Pete-Licata-and-Hawaiian-Coffee . Pete Licata is the head training barista at Honolulu Coffee Company. Checking out the Hula Daddy website, I found a listing of a very interesting blend that may be made similarly to their contribution to the prize-winning entry. They call it their "Mele" blend, and it's processed three different ways (dry natural, pulped natural, wet process), roasted separately and then blended together. Yow! But at $44.95/lb it's beyond my budget. See: http://huladaddy.com/catalog.htm Some of their other coffees are more expensive. This isn't a dig, though. I understand that premium coffees should/must command premium prices.

A little more online research at the Hula Daddy site yielded a 93.1 review by Bob at Coffeecuppers.com, familiar to all of us at H-B. That review mentions the master roaster at Hula Daddy, Miguel Meza. Here's the link to the review: http://www.coffeecuppers.com/Reviews/by0039.htm . Bob reports that those coffees are not at their best with espresso. But Miguel Meza and Hula Daddy are obviously producing very fine coffees and the latest SCAA results you report means that they produce exceptional espresso.

Although the per-pound price is high for me, this doesn't preclude a future vacation to the Big Island and a tour of the coffee scene on Kona! If anyone else tries some excellent Konas or other Hawaiian coffees -- apparently there's a lot happening there now -- please let us know. That would probably rate a split-off thread from this one.

One of the coffees Pete Licata in competition he processed in my yard on one of Hula Daddy's farms. the cherry came from another farm though -'Waiono Meadows' which is located directly above a new field hula daddy is planting. Myself and his fellow competitor from Honolulu Coffee Row Azcon helped him pick some of the cherry. It is one of the highest altitude coffee fields in Hawaii. the area the coffee was picked in was around 3000ft. (Most Kona coffee is grown between 1200-1800ft) the rest of his coffee he picked at Rusty's Hawaiian in Ka'u. honey processed typica and natural processed caturra/catuai.

the coffee Row Azcon who made the finals as well was from 'Waiono Meadows'. a blend of two roast degrees. Pete Licata Roasted that coffee as well as the coffee he used.

last year i roasted the coffee Pete used to win the western regional competition with. It was a blend of Mokka natural coffee from Maui, and Coffees from Hula Daddy in Kona roasted reasonably light -just before the start of second crack. Pete's espresso this year was also roasted to a similar degree. for a short while Hula Daddy did offer an espresso blend for sale that was the same roast degree and components as Pete's competition espresso. the Mele uses some of the same components as the espresso blend, but the ratios and roast degrees are different. I havent tried as espresso, it may be a little on the light side for that application. the Hula Daddy Kona Oli (medium-dark roasted Honey processed coffee) might be a better fit for espresso. coffee cuppers reviewed all washed coffees from Hula Daddy, and i would agree espresso is not their strongest suit. any where can make coffee that is great for espresso, and it need not be roasted dark (IMHO as a general rule should not) to be good. there is a lot that can be done on the origin side in terms of processing, varietal selection etc that can be used to optimize coffees for espresso. Pete and I are both very fortunate to have the opportunity to build espressos from the ground up to create the flavor profiles we desire. Pete put a ton of work into his competition this year. he spent about 2 weeks over the past 3 months out here with me on the big island just picking and processing the few lbs of coffee he was intending to use for competition. myself, the farmers he worked with, and most of the Hawaii coffee industry are very proud of his success this year. and keep our fingers crossed he will continue on to the WBC representing the USA with all USA grown coffee.

Miguel,

Thank you for the delightful insight into what Pete did in preparation for the competition. Your post brought a marvelous view of the process that he used to become more connected and control of the heart of the competition...the bean.

I look forward to your future contributions.

Bob

Miguel,

Thank you for joining the conversation! Do you have any photos you can share of these places or any of you who are collaborating in fine coffee production? Do you have any plans to process, roast and ship for espresso?

Readers of this thread may be interested in Miguel's previous venture "Coffees by R. Miguel," discussed on H-B at length at invitation only coffees - rmiguelcoffee.com. Yes, there was espresso "by invitation only."

I have plenty of photos and some video of the places and people Pete worked with and his production process. let me figure out how i post here. Pete has some more as well. i let him know about this thread so hopefully he can chime in as well.

there might just be some roasted coffee that is similar to what Pete used (but not picked and processed by 'The Pete') in the works.

I bought green some of the DP Hula Daddy reserve Miguel is selling through Paradise. My first roast was a cupping roast, pulled on the last gasps of the first crack. It has an amazingly lush and floral dry aroma. Brewed it was on the mild side, but even at this too light roast it shone as an espresso. I look forward to my next roast, which will be taken to just ahead of the 2nd crack.

Jim,

DP Hula Daddy through Paradise? this was recently? Hula Daddy only sells their coffee direct retail now. I did produce a natural lot for Paradise but it's not from Hula Daddy. from another farm i do work with in Kona which has a small patch of the rare maragogype cultivar. I was using that coffee in an espresso blend i was roasting for a new cafe in Honolulu -Beach Bum Cafe. does quite nicely as espresso but is a bit intense by itself for my tastes. I'm all out of it now. Paradise has the rest. not planning on making anymore this season as season is essentially over in Kona now. natural caturra from Rusty's Hawaiian farm in Ka'u like Pete included in his competition blend, that's a different story.

here are some pictures.


Pete Licata pulping coffee in Kona


Pete picking coffee at Waiono Meadows


Pete Licata and Row Azcon with some of their harvest