Kailua-Kona Hawaii (March 3, 2010) – In two coffee industry firsts this past weekend in Los Angeles, Pete Licata of Honolulu became the first representative from Hawaii to win the Western Regional Barista Competition and also the first-ever to prevail at any barista competition using 100% Hawaiian coffee.
Mr. Licata’s espresso blend of three coffees included two 100% Kona coffees from Hula Daddy Coffee of Holualoa and a third originating from Maui.
“We congratulate Pete for his masterful performance,” commented Kalena Jue, owner of Hula Daddy Coffee. “By besting Californian baristas that have historically dominated national barista competitions with coffees from Africa and Latin America, Pete has shown that there is a new generation of espresso expertise being grown right here in Hawaii.”
The Western Regional Barista Competition is one of ten events organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of America that lead to the United States Barista Championship in Anaheim this April. In each event, baristas prepare espressos, cappuccinos and original signature drinks to exacting standards for a panel of judges.
One winner from the national championship will represent the USA at the World Barista Championship in London this June.
About Hula Daddy Coffee
Hula Daddy Kona Coffee is a boutique estate located above the town of Kona, Hawaii on the slope of Mount Hualalai volcano. In 2008, coffee reviewer Ken Davids awarded Hula Daddy’s Sweet Kona Light coffee an historic 97-point score, making it one of the 3 highest rated coffees in history and the highest-ever rated Hawaiian coffee. All of the coffees offered by Hula Daddy are grown on its private 34-acre plantation. For more information, please visit http://www.huladaddy.com.
LONDON (March 1, 2010) – Colombia has been selected to host the 12th annual World Barista Championship, which will be held in combination with the 2011 EXPOESPECIALES conference in Bogota.
Seven countries vied to host the 2011 event. “Choosing a winner from the very competitive site proposals we received was an extremely difficult task for the WBC board,” commented WBC Executive Director Cindy Chang.
The World Barista Championship (WBC) event is the annual destination for barista champions hailing from more than 50 countries. In each national competition and dozens of local and regional preliminary events, baristas prepare espressos, cappuccinos and original signature drinks to exacting standards for a panel of international judges.
“We are delighted to host the 2011 Championship,” said Luis Muñoz, CEO of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC). “It will be an opportunity for baristas and visitors to keep discovering the world of Colombia Coffee, and also to support our domestic coffee consumption program.”
“The barista movement is worldwide,” said Ric Rhinehart, Executive Director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, which co-owns the WBC alongside the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe. “We are delighted to see the event take place in a coffee producing country for the first time in its history.”
About World Barista Championship UK Ltd.
The World Barista Championship is the preeminent international coffee competition. Founded by the Specialty Coffee Associations of America and Europe, the event organization promotes excellence in coffee, advancement of the barista profession and engages a worldwide audience with an annual championship that serves as the culmination of regional and national events held in more than 50 countries.
The 2010 World Barista Championship will be held June 23-25, 2010 at Olympia Exhibition Centre in London. For more information, visit the WBC website at http://www.worldbaristachampionship.com.
Just recently back from Bucharest, it was time for a quick turnaround for the Caribbean… and specifically, Jamaica.
Montego Bay, Jamaica
The Jamaican Tourism Board slogan suggests, “once you go, you’ll know.” Oh, how I know! …and will never forget, so hard as I may try.
I have been to the Caribbean before for work and holidays, to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Grenada, where I had a particularly enjoyable time working for some particularly nice people, but none trips of these prepared me for what was waiting in Jamaica.
From the time my driver picked me up at the airport with a lit joint in his mouth and full cocktail tumbler of rum (yes, a glass) on the dash of his primer-accented late-80′s Toyota, I knew that Jamaica would be an interesting adventure, to say the least. Had I read the US Department of State’s warnings on crime, violence and traffic safety before my trip, I probably would not have gone.
Driving in Jamaica
…that one luckily did not involve me, but there were about a dozen other near-misses that had me scrambling through my briefcase for Dramamine. Like a cross between a Cheech & Chong movie and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride we weaved and bounced over the rain-slick and poorly maintained roadways for hours each day with little regard for what obstacles may be around the next corner — after all, they were probably hallucinations anyway.
A meeting in Kingston with Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica Executive Director Christopher Gentiles was a refreshing diversion from all of the madness I experienced earlier in the week in Mo Bay and Negril; a hopeful reminder that there are some very smart people with good ideas working hard behind the scenes to help the coffee industry in Jamaica along.
After a week of nauseating car rides, creative disagreements with clients (I still think that serving pressed Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in plastic cups is a bad idea) and mostly-no-show meetings with vendors and prospective landlords, it was time to pack up and get out of there, which I did as soon as possible.
June 2009 – Cologne, Germany
View from my nifty hotel room overlooking the Dom cathedral, Cologne, Germany
Until June 2009, the year had been lousy, so I vowed to make a fresh new start in the second half; it pretty much worked. In June, I traveled to Cologne, Germany for the annual Specialty Coffee Association of Europe conference, including championships for cup tasting, latte art, good spirits (with alcohol) and Turkish coffee preparation. Other than a few business meetings and helping out with the WBC stand at the exhibition, I had some uncharacteristic time to socialize with colleagues, as well as jog around the city and enjoy the amazingly pleasant weather.
Michael Jackson shrine in Dom square
The sudden untimely death of Michael Jackson (should we really have been so surprised?) could have been received as a bad omen, but it was not. Incidentally, he must have touched a lot of people in Germany (oops, bad choice of words). Vigils lasted for days in the Dom cathedral square and I awoke more than once to the sound of MJ ballads sung by crowds of heartbroken German fans. Suddenly, that whole David Hasselhoff thing began to make sense (ok, not really).
From my balcony, July 2009
Even in the absence of dear ‘Wacko Jacko,” my new start was definitely on-track. I enjoyed the next few months of relative peace and quiet at home in Hawaii, with some portion of July dedicated to moving back in to my house that had been renovated for the prior 13 months. It was good to be home.
August 2009 – Muscat, Oman
Me at the Royal Walkway, Sultan's Palace, Muscat
O.K., that’s enough goofing off at home, it was time to get back to work on the road. I headed next to the Gulf (Persian, that is), a region of great interest to me for its unique history, food and unparalleled hospitality.
One small word of warning to travelers visiting Oman: do not drop by a friend’s house with the expectation of having a quick chat and cup of coffee. It is tradition in Oman to make as big a fuss as humanly conceivable upon the arrival of a house guest, with the host going to insane expense preparing elaborate meals and even traveling across country to return home at the mention of a casual visit. Similarly, it is traditionally rude for the guest to reject the hospitality, even if you (oh for example) have been on the road visiting retail sites all day and really want to get back to your hotel so you can sleep. Such visits are known to ensnare visitors for hours -even days- before the host will acquiesce and grant his guest permission to esc… I mean, leave. As I recall from discussing the incident with my client there, the English translation of the local phrase describing this situation is approximately “the kind of hospitality that hurts.”
In the months that followed, I took a short trip back to Detroit for an informal reunion of old high school band friends brought together by the power of Facebook… great to catch up with all of them after all of this time. Next, I prepared for another trip, but this one would not take me far from home.
October 2009 – Hawaii Island, Hawaii
Hawaiian Flag at Hilo Coffee Mill
That’s right, they came to me this time! October 26-30 was the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe origin tour of Hawaii, organized and led by me and my friend Dr. Shawn Steiman, doctor of tropical agriculture extraordinaire, author of the Hawaii Coffee Book and all around swell guy.
Be sure to read the articles, as it was a great trip that did much to promote Hawaiian coffee in Europe. As a follow-up, farms featured on the tour are now exporting coffee to new buyers overseas — of note, be sure to look for some of the best of Ka’u for sale now at Harrod’s in London!
November 2009 – Tokyo, Hong Kong, Dubai, Morocco, Netherlands, Chicago, San Francisco
Watching the 38 second animation of my 2 week business trip in November one may ask, “how does this sort of thing happen?” Well, it is a long story, but let’s just say that things do not always work out as you plan.
The trip began as a long but simple, round trip from Hawaii (where I live) to Dubai for the first UAE Specialty Coffee Conference and Barista Championship. Despite being a longer distance, eastbound travel from Hawaii is generally far less expensive than westbound travel due to U.S. Mainland tourist airfare competition and as a pretty regular passenger on United Airlines, I am almost always put in business class for the cost of coach, so the original plan was deemed acceptable.
…but plans change. Next, having recently started a large project in Eastern Europe (which you will hear about in the 2010 wrap-up), I scheduled meetings in The Netherlands with my clients and extended out the trip a little longer. I was left with a free weekend between the conference and meetings, but surely something else would come along — and it did.
Agadir, Morocco
A new project was forming in Morocco, so I added a stopover on my weekend off to hold meetings in that country. So what about the whole Tokyo, Hong Kong connection, you ask? As I said above, things do not always work out as planned.
The date of my originally scheduled departure direct to San Francisco from Kona, I received the status update that my flight was expected to depart late, which is never a good sign in Hawaii. When an inbound aircraft to Hawaii is late, it is often very late… usually maintenance or union terrorism that is tracked in terms of hours instead of minutes. Still, I had plenty of time for my connection, which was not until the following late-morning or afternoon, so I proceeded to the airport accounting for the estimated departure time.
Three hours later, we sat in a completely dark aircraft to address a new electrical issue that had arisen since the aircraft arrived. When fixed, we pulled away from the tarmac (there really is no “gate” to speak of in Kona) and made a new discovery: the airport was closed that night to repaint the runway lines. Are you joking?
So, flight canceled and no other alternatives available that evening at 1:00 A.M. (for a 10:00 P.M. originally scheduled departure), the full 757-load of passengers disembarked and raced to the counter to make hotel arrangements and flight changes with 4 weary and unhappy looking customer service attendants. I did not blame them in the least for looking unhappy; they did an outstanding job.
One hour later (and I was one of the first to the counter), I had a new plan: go home for 3 hours (hooray), then fly out to Honolulu in the morning, then Tokyo, Seoul and nonstop to Dubai, only missing about a half day of my original itinerary.
In Tokyo, fate struck again when my replacement Seoul flight was similarly canceled due to maintenance problems and I was stuck there for the night, only to continue my journey instead via Hong Kong the following day. I arrived in Dubai one day late, almost to the minute, making me wish that I had just caught my original flights one day later. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20, and at least the trip was productive.
December 2009 – Los Angeles and back to Sacramento
December saw me return to my former home city of Los Angeles for a short few day’s roasting work on my European project and then back to Sacramento with my wife and her family for the holidays, completing the circle to where I began in January.
2009 was wild, amusing and unpredictable, sometimes sad and stressful, but everything worked out in the end. Like an episode of Fantasy Island, economic uncertainty was resolved, family illness was cured, an IRS audit was dropped, old friendships were remembered and new ones made all in one tidy 12 month period.
What I learned in 2009 can best be summed up by Ricardo Montalban’s iconic Mr. Rourke character, who said at the beginning of every episode, “smiles everyone… smiles!” After all, I’m living on Fantasy Island.
A new study commissioned by the Kona Coffee Farmers Association touts the benefits of legislating that all products sold with the label Kona Coffee within the State of Hawaii should consist of 100% coffee grown in Kona. While I am in agreement with the concept of truth in labeling and believe that the origin and percentage of coffee blends should be identified on packaging, I disagree with the assessment that a 100%-only restriction would benefit the Kona coffee industry (but may be a windfall for other coffee growers in Hawaii outside of the Kona district).
I find the study makes two additional assumptions that are incorrect:
1) All Kona coffees are good and desirable.False. Unfortunately, 100% Kona Coffee does not necessarily equate to 100% ‘good’ coffee. Being the only licensed coffee Q grader in Hawaii and one who is presently engaged on a project funded by the USDA to grade coffees in the State, I find that the far majority of 100% Kona coffees I have sampled directly from farms or on retail stores shelves to be of marginally acceptable quality, and most a poor value for their high selling cost in comparison to other world origins. A rare few are exceptional, but these coffees have largely pursued a strategy of developing and and marketing their own estate label brands instead of relying on the Kona appalachian moniker to justify their high cost to consumers. In the commercial coffee trade outside of Hawaii, 100% Kona Coffee often occupies the same “exotic” designation as Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, Nepal Coffee and even Kopi Luwak, all high-priced novelties that has some measure of fame on the primary basis of marketing and inordinate cost rather than commercial viability. This market position must change in order for the origin to survive and no amount of labeling will influence the purchase decisions of commercial traders or roasters — only taste will change the impression of professionals.
2) All Kona blends use 90% inferior commodity grade coffee to complete their products.False. Although I have not worked on behalf of any company to develop a Kona blend, I find it highly unlikely that commodity grade coffees from other origins are being used in typical Kona blend products sold within the State of Hawaii. More likely, specialty grade coffees from Central or South America would be used for this purpose to create a mild and nondescript flavor, as taints and faults in commodity grades would be easily identifiable to even the most novice palate as undesirable. There is no direct correlation between price and quality where coffees of differing origins are concerned, so any assumption that coffees being used for blending are inferior to domestic Hawaiian coffees on the basis of price is incorrect.
The study concludes: The blenders’ loss in the No Blending case would be offset by the benefit of improving consumers’ perception of the quality of “Kona Coffee” by avoiding attaching that appellation to a product whose taste is indistinguishable from commodity coffee.
Unfortunately, the greater problem is that most Kona coffees ARE indistinguishable from the coffees used for blending, thus creating a market opportunity for lower cost and subsequently better value blends that approximate the same result.
The only sustainable solution for Kona is to innovate, develop and improve the flavor profile of Kona coffee to match modern commercial and consumer taste preferences through research and then enact strict quality standards for harvesting, processing and eventually roasting. We must make Kona coffee more desirable for use in modern methods of extraction, like espresso, and provide some objective assurance of quality and traceability for coffees produced to justify the high cost of operating in Hawaii. We must add value, not simply restrict use.
I urge the Hawaii Legislature to not restrict the free market from purchasing blended Kona coffee. In the absence of a blended sales outlet, the price of Kona coffee will collapse, as surplus supplies flood warehouses and Hawaii store shelves, thus creating further hardship for American farmers already hindered by the cost of doing business in the U.S.A. and unique costs of operating in Hawaii.
Furthermore, Hawaii does not exist in a vacuum and is not so distant from the U.S. Mainland or Japan as it may sometimes feel. As prices fall, Kona coffees will merely be sold off to other markets that do not operate under the enforceability of Hawaii’s State laws, further hindering small farmers who cannot reach store shelves on foreign shores.
Business as usual is not the answer, but neither are market restrictions. Make Kona coffee something identifiably unique and of great value, then consumers will no longer be satisfied by anything less than 100%.
