Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014

      The author drinks Ka`u Coffee at Hana Hou Restaurant and travels to Cloud Rest to visit the farm of Trini and Francis Marques, where they grow their own award-winning Ali`i Hawaiian Hula Hands Coffee. The author writes about being at Cloud Rest. “I tell Trini that this place feels removed somehow from the real world.” He also quotes Trini Marques saying, “I believe it is sacred here,” and that she recounted that “with every tree she plants, she utters a silent prayer.” The author describes the many details on the farm taken care of by Francis Marques and writes, “The work is exacting, expensive and, Trini believes, crucial to producing quality coffee.”
      The illustrations are by travel photographer Susan Suebert. Images include the iconic location photographed by almost everyone who goes to Cloud Rest – looking down on numerous Ka`u Coffee farms and Lorie Obra’s tiny coffee shack and out to the Pacific Ocean. Photos also include picking and processing, the drying floor at Ka`u Coffee Mill, the Flyin’ Hawaiian Coffee Truck, the inside of Will & Grace shop, the outside of Hana Hou and a table within.

       The story takes readers to the farm of Lorie Obra and her award-winning Rusty’s 100 Percent Hawaiian Ka`u Coffee. It tells the story of coffee creating an economy after sugar shut down in 1996 and describes some of the risks such as fires that damaged orchards and the coffee berry borer threatening the crop. “And in a turn of events that resurrects the feelings of helplessness that arose when Big Sugar left, ownership of the leased coffee land has fallen to a big New York bank that’s looking to sell. For now the trees are flourishing and there is reasonable hope that the coffee borer can be managed and the coffee leases will be renewed. Either way, the people of Ka`u will take it as it comes,” the Sunset writer concludes.
          The story ends with a quote from Lorie Obra: “Learning how to grow coffee has been important for Ka`u ... but maybe more important has been learning how resilient we are. We are gutsy, and we aren’t going away.”
           In a separate section called Where to Fill Your Mug, Sunset suggests locations to visit. Under the category Taste, the writer recommends having a cup at Hana Hou with a slice of cream pie and enjoying Ka`u Coffee with Hawaiian sweet bread at Punalu`u Bake Shop. Under Shop, it recommends Ka`u Farmers Market, where Rusty’s can be purchased for $35 a pound. It also recommends Hawaiian Hula Hands at $41 a pound and The Rising Sun at $28 a pound. Under Tour, the article recommends Aikane Plantation Coffee Co., with a walk through the orchard and visit to the 1930s plantation house. It also recommends Ka`u Coffee Mill for touring the growing, processing and roasting operations and tasting at the visitor center.
         The article also suggests Ka`u Coffee Festival: “The district goes full-tilt coffee crazy with the annual Ka`u Coffee Festival, ten days of tastings, tours and events, including the Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant,” the story says. It points readers to www.kauoffeefest.com for information about the May 2 - 11 event.
      For more, see www.sunset.com.

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