The brown gold from Hawaii… is also called Coffee on the island. "Its aroma is dreamlike and better than other coffees" said Mark Twain already in 1866 🙂
Coffee growing in Hawaii takes place mostly on the west coast of Big Islandin the area around Kona On the steep slopes of Mount Halali and the Mauna Loa Volcano, at an altitude of 250 - 850 meters, the coffee grows in incredibly good conditions. Thanks to the rich volcanic soil of Hawaii and the vector clouds that pass over the coffee plants in the afternoon and protect the tender plantlets from the heat, make the Kona Coffee top quality.
The soil in this region is even considered one of the best ones in the world. Wow! The quantities of coffee produced are unfortunately very small. Since the coffee is handpicked and the level of quality during production and roasting is very important. This is why the coffee is very exclusive and not easy to get. Nowadays, the majority of coffee producers are ecologically oriented and there are now over 600 coffee farms in Kona, crazy!
My Tip: take a look at the Kanlani Ohana Farm. Stop by and enjoy a great day with the coffee farmers. Many Hawaiian families work here and secure their income with cultivation, harvesting, processing and quality control of coffee. The taste of Kona coffee is unique and it is classified by coffee connoisseurs as one of the 3 best coffees in the world. The Kona coffee has the quality class: "extra fancy". Even NASA likes to enjoy a cup of Hawaiian coffee in space or even on Earth 🙂 And even in the White House since Barak Obama moved in and drank Kona Coffee. Have you ever had a cup? How did you find it?
I would like to introduce a real vitamin bomb to you now... No, it is not a fruit - but a nut. The Macadamia nut is filled with vitamin B, calcium, iron, phosphorus and it is healthy food for our brain for when it becomes a little bit more stressful again 🙂 The macadamia nut is also called "the queen among nuts" because the growing process of the nut is very difficult and the processing is very complicated. The shell of the macadamia is so hard that you can not even open it with a normal nutcracker. To crack them, you need a spindle nutcrackerwhich drilles through the nut to open it. So it is not very easy to get to the delicious nut... The demand is therefore even greater which makes the golden nut to the most expensive nut in the world! It can be enjoyed in many ways, dried or roasted, coated with chocolate, salted or in a cake. The cosmetics industry also uses the oil of the allrounder nut for their products. Growing areas in Hawaii are Big Island, Molokai and also Oahu.
When you think of Hawaii, pineapple is probably the one fruitthat immediately comes to your mind! In 1906, when James Dole opened the first pineapple factory in Honolulu Hawaii was still the world's number one pineapple supplier. Today, the beautiful islands produce only 15% of the world's pineapple trade. Most of the yellow fruits is from Asia nowadays. Awesome!
Nevertheless, the pineapple remains Hawaiian landmark and will always be associated with Hawaii. On all Hawaiian islands, pineapple is grown on large pineapple plantations. No matter where you travel to, if you drive by car across the islands, you will pass a pineapple plantation 100%. Keep your eyes open!
My tip for you: If you are on Oahu, visit the Dole Plantation. Here you can learn everything about the pineapple. Planting, harvesting and processing of the sweet fruit - everything is explained. You can admire different varieties, large, small, long, red in the in-house garden. Interesting! Even baby pineapples grow here, sweet! 😉 A small train takes visitors through the whole plantation. Climb on and look at everything!
In the Dole Plantation, you can also buy many souvenirs of the pineapple and the Dole brand. Necklaces, shirts, magnets, stickers and much more. You can also try pineapple ice cream with fresh pineapple chunks on it, mmmmh.... alternatively, you get sliced pineapple and of course fast food, for a snack 🙂 The Dole Plantation is a nice destination for the afternoon. Especially if you are travelling with children - they get to see a lot here.
It is safe to say that Kona coffee, macadamia nuts and pineapples are probably the most popular and famous products in the world which are made in Hawaii. However, due to its year-round and permanently mild climatebut also the excellent volcanic soil, the best conditions for many other products are given too. There are for example cotton fields, tobacco is grown, orchids are grown for shipping, fruits such as papayas, mangos, guavas, bananas and coconuts grow here. You can even find vineyards as well as rice fields in Hawaii.
Additionally, the Pacific Ocean offers abundant and great fish like the yellowfin tunawhich lives off the coasts of Hawaii. You can cook the typical Ahi Ahi or Ahi Poke.
Try a lot of things in Hawaii because local, regional products are always the freshest and best!
