MEDIA RELEASE
Coffee farmers may only be beginning this year’s harvest, but it’s not too soon to start salivating over the best of the beans.
Real java junkies will have to wait nearly three months for the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, so why not soak up a little history to pass the time?
In 1987, coffee industry insiders conducted the first blind tasting to judge Kona coffee as part of the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival.
Twenty-two years later, Gevalia Kona Coffee Cupping Competition is recognized as the premier cupping for selecting the finest Kona coffee.
This is the chance to learn first-hand which distinctive characteristics define gourmet Kona coffee by a panel of cupping judges when the competition gets tough Wednesday, Nov. 11, and Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Keauhou Beach Resort.
More than 60 Kona coffee farmers enter their finest for this competitive judging beginning with the preliminary round Nov. 11.
Each Kona coffee farm submits a 75-pound parchment sample from which 5 pounds are actually entered.
Every entry must conform to a very simple rule: each coffee bean in the sample must have been grown on the entrant’s farm, and the farm must have some commercial tie to the Kona coffee industry.
All submitted coffee beans undergo identical milling to ensure the same consistency. Since 2001, Mountain Thunder has served as the official master miller.
The coffee samples, both green and roasted, are placed on a rectangular table for the judges to independently evaluate.
Scores are based on four positive attributes: fragrance and aroma, taste, acidity and body, and three negative attributes: freshness, off flavors and defects. The best receive scores in the mid-range of a five-point system.
The top 15 entries advance from the first day’s preliminary round. The competition heats up on the second day, when the Kona coffee farm producing the winning gourmet flavor is revealed.
2009 Judging Panel
Dave Holfve, Master Taster, Gevalia Kaffe – He previously served as the apprentice to recently retired Willy Pettersson, long-time Gevalia cupping judge. Holfve, who participated in his first Kona cupping competition in 2008, tastes 150 to 200 cups of coffee daily at Gevalia headquarters in Sweden. When he first started the job, Holfve admits, he had a hard time falling asleep. But that’s about the only downside to being Gevalia’s newest Master Taster.
Sherri Johns, WholeCup Coffee Consulting, LLC – This industry coffee specialist and retail consultant is one of only a few to bridge the gap between producers and consumers of specialty coffee. Johns is president of WholeCup Coffee Consulting, LLC, a firm that specializes in global professional coffee and barista education, developing and expanding cafe, roaster and coffee retail concepts and locations and producer of the international event “Iron Chef of Coffee” the Ultimate Barista Challenge. Johns began in the specialty coffee business in 1976 as a barista. Within three years she was awarded “Champion Barista” in one of the earliest Barista Championships.
John King, Harold L. King & Company, Calif. – This third-generation coffee importer of green coffees from around the world has been in the coffee business for more than 20 years. King’s family operates Harold L. King & Co., one of the oldest, largest and most respected coffee importing companies in the nation.
Coffee-inspired works by a slate of renowned local artists complement the cupping competition. Viewers are invited to vote for their favorite Kona coffee artist in a People’s Choice Award presentation.
The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival is supported by Hawaii Tourism Authority; county Department of Research and Development; Ueshima Coffee (UCC Hawaii) Corp.; Gevalia Kaffe; Kamehameha Schools; Keauhou Resort; KTA Super Stores; Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union; and numerous corporate and community donors..
Previous First Place Winners
2008 – Hoshide Farms
2007 – Kona Old Style/Kuaiwi Farm
2006 – Pearl Estate Organics
2005 – Rancho Aloha
2004 – Lafayette Coffee
2003 – Kona Coffee & Tea Company
2002 – Koa Coffee Plantation
2001 – Wood Captain Cook Estate
2000 – The Other Farm
1999 – Dragon Roast Coffee
1998 – Brockston Gate Estate
1997 – Terry Fitzgerald Estate
1996 – Keokea Kona Farm
1995 – Kona Kulana Farms
1994 – Perry Estate Farms
1993 – Keopu Mauka Lani Plantation
1992 – Kona Kulana Farms
1991 – Wailapa Farms
1990 – Island Girl Coffee
1989 – Wailapa Farms
1988 – Faye Takashiba
1987 – Tojiro Motoki
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