WAIMEA — Earlier this month, Laura Ross of Waimea was given the highest award ever given by Coffee Review for her 100 percent Kona SL-28 coffee. She is the roaster at Hula Daddy Kona Coffee in Holualoa.
Ken David of Coffee Review said, “Spectacularly sweet and hugely aromatic. Coffee simply doesn’t get much better than this. Transcendently classic.”
Hula Daddy is a boutique coffee producer with farms at the 1,400 and 2,500 foot levels of the Mount Hualalai volcano near the northern end of the Kona growing district, five minutes above Kailua-Kona. This coffee was produced entirely from trees of the distinguished SL-28 variety of Arabica, the most celebrated of the Bourbon-derived tree varieties responsible for Kenya’s finest coffees. This SL-28 was grown at the higher elevation Hula Daddy farm and processed with the ferment step conducted “dry” — or no water added to the tank — using a commercial yeast. It is a limited edition coffee only available for sale through the allocation list on the Hula Daddy website.
Ross oversaw the planting of the coffee from seed, picking and roasting the coffee. She believes that controlling ever step of the process is the only way to produce great coffee. Ross was also the Hawaii Retail Employee of the Year in 2015.