U.S. CoffeeChamps Brewers Cup hosted on Hawaii coffee farm
Pacific Coffee Research, a specialty coffee education center and SCA premier training campus in Kona, hosted the first ever U.S. CoffeeChamps Brewers Cup preliminaries last weekend at Hawaii Agriculture Research Center’s Kunia location. During the weekend long event, competitors from across the islands gathered at the experimental coffee farm to cup and select their competition coffee: a choice between Hala Tree 100 percent Kona coffee natural processed (fruit-dried) Typica and Half Mile Hi 100 percent Kona coffee washed processed (parchment-dried) Typica.
Over the following two days, practice rounds and the competition began. Competitors had thirty minutes to practice unique, manual brew methods and decide on a recipe that best suited their selection. Then, they had eight minutes to deliver their presentation in front of a qualified panel of judges, including a head judge, Brandon Thiessen of Olam Coffee, who was selected and sent over by the Specialty Coffee Association. Thomas Keisling of Honolulu Coffee Company took the first place prize sponsored by the Hawai Coffee Association — a round trip flight and entry into the qualifiers in Nashville or Denver later this fall.
For more information, visit pacificcoffeeresearch.com or info@pcr.coffee. Pacific Coffee Research is located at 83-5308 Mamalahoa Highway (mile marker 106 South Kona).