Ono Gelato & Espresso Co. - Maui, Hawaii - 100% Maui Yellow Caturra -Inverted Aeropress

Stepping off the plane in Hawai'i, and driving into Lahaina, my wife and I walked into a small Gelato Shop, Ono Gelato, the first place we'd entered outside of where we were staying. On a whim, by the design and coffee type, I pulled the 100% Maui Yellow Caturra, after I was informed that this was a medium roast. Never you mind that there was no clue on the roast date.

Notes: Looks like quite a bit of quakers, and smells rather like peanut butter and nutty. Didn't have much bloom, so I would conclude that it had been a whole since it was roasted.

Taste: Shockingly, this brighter than I would have expected. Citrus zap to it, nutty, with a bit of smoke. I'd liken it closer to the tang of a black tea, and some notes of stone fruit.

Jay's rating: 8
Brent's rating: 8.5

Cafe Cafe - Maui, Hawaii - Whales Tales (50% Maui Mokka) - Inverted Aeropress

Found a little coffee shop, Cafe Cafe, in Lahaina in Maui, Hawaii, and after reading the descriptions of their coffees, was really looking forward to trying some local coffee. Even though they didn't have the 100% Maui Mokka on drip at the time, or means to make a pourover, they were awesome enough to grind me some and make me it. It was worth the wait, and the coffee was more interesting than I had suspected. So, needless to say, I was looking forward to taking a bag back, and our analysis for this blog (and for the caffeine buzz to drive us at work). Cafe Cafe prides itself on roasting 2x per week, so they assured me that they would be fresh, however, didn't have any 100% Maui Mokka bag, so I took the blend with me.





After these good first impressions, at work I opened the bag to see a markedly darker roast than I anticipated. But, I guess this is the mark of Hawaiian coffee, a slightly darker roast, according to Brent. The bloom was good, and definitely spoke to the freshness of the beans.

Smokey, chocolate tones, but a lack of subtleties. Gotta say that the overroasting bummed me out on this one, had higher expectations after my drip of this.

Jay's rating: 6
Brent's rating: 6.5

Big Island Coffee Roasters - Puna Kazumura, Hawai'i - Inverted Aeropress

We are stuck in a west rut. First, with the Papua New Guinea, now with some Hawai'i. I guess we'd actually need a third to have a trend.

Brent brought this one, as one of three coffees from Hawai'i by Big Island Coffee Roasters. The label and description caught my eye immediately: tasting notes of sandalwood?? We generally get stuff with sweet, citrus, nutty, or otherwise, but this is probably the first herbal coffee we have tried. I also noted the javalina on the cover, with the quote: "Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it." attributed to George Bernard Shaw. As someone who holds a bottle opener made from a boar tusk, it made me hungry.

The foam on this was great, though not as thick as with the New Guinea.

The flavor was amazingly different, not too darkly roasted. I definitely agree with the sandalwood reference, though it smelled strongly of chocolate when ground, but this wasn't an really sweet or juicy coffee. I'd say nutty and herbal, but light enough to drink consistently without getting burned out. As it cooled, it shifted from having one strong flavor to three-dimensional. If we've got any cologne nerds out there (again, on the sandalwood reference), you may love this stuff.

Jay's Rating: 8.5
Brent's Rating: 9

As Brent pointed out, we've been drinking too good of coffees recently. Perhaps we will need worse coffee or to add elements of new measurement to distinguish these better. Or maybe you should just drink what we do.