Is Kau the new Kona in Hawaii?
Posted: Jul 21, 2010
The second-annual Hawaiian coffee cupping competition took place this weekend, and hawaiinewsnow.com reports the winner came from a surprising district: Kau. Rusty’s Hawaiian, a farm located in Kau (pronounced Kah-oo), took top honors at the event, grabbing a 91.1 rating and beating out a number of offerings from the Big Island’s Kona area, which has long been recognized as the premier coffee region in the archipelago. Five Kona coffees placed in the top ten, but none cracked the top three: Second place went to Maui’s Kupaa Farm, and Paradise Meadows, another Kau representative, finished third.
Kau is located on the southeastern end of the Big Island. Kona sits across the island on the western coast.
The statewide cupping competition was run by the Hawaiian Coffee Association and took place at the group’s annual conference, held July 15-17 in Kona. At last year’s competition, the top three finishers were Kona farms, with Onouli Farm topping the list.
—Dan Leif
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