Ka‘u Coffee Festival in Full Swing

Courtesy photo.

The annual Ka‘u Coffee Festival is happening now through Dec. 31.

Due to COVID-19, the festival has gone digital with free online events to celebrate Ka‘u’s award-winning brew and the hardworking people behind it. The 2020 festival kicked off the week of Dec. 21 and includes a virtual Ka‘u Coffee Farm Tour, “Meet the Farmer” profiles, an informative Ka‘u Coffee Brewing Demonstration, the engaging Ka‘u Coffee College, and Hawaiian Music and Hula.

Most of the virtual festival will be pre-recorded and posted at www.KauCoffeeFest.com, while the coffee college is an interactive webinar using the Demio platform. Once completed, all festival activities will be available for later viewing on the above website.

“2020 and the COVID pandemic sent more than its share of curve balls our way, yet we don’t want to leave our fans and supporters without their annual fix of Ka‘u coffee fun,” said long-time festival organizer Chris Manfredi. “We are excited and grateful to create this virtual content, which will help us continue to share our coffee community both now and into the future.”

The Ka‘u Coffee Farm Tour will showcase select farms and the scenic surrounding region, plus a sampling of other activities available in historic Ka‘u. The segment includes shadowing a farmer from harvest duties to wet mill processing. The ‘Meet the Farmer’ Profiles offer rarely seen insights into the men and women cultivating Ka‘u coffee and what drives them to do what they do.

The Ka‘u Coffee Brewing Demo is an educational video detailing various ways to brew Ka‘u coffee while conducting a tasting demonstration. Participants will not only share brewing methods, but also how roasting and grinding can impact brew flavor and intensity. Learn how to do your own Fellow Stagg Pour Over, Chemex, French Press, Aeropress, and more.

The festival’s ever-popular Ka‘u Coffee College, which annually assists local farmers in all areas of coffee production, will reach more attendees in this year’s virtual format. Educational presentations will include COVID recovery techniques, an overview of the introduction of Coffee Leaf Rust to Hawai‘i and garnering support from the USDA Rural Development programs.

Festival attendees will enjoy an online video of Hawaiian music and hula performed by Keaiwa and Halau Hula O Leionalani. Performing arts is a mainstay of the annual Ka‘u Coffee Festival and viewers will be invited to “watch the show” while sipping on their favorite brew of Ka‘u Coffee.

Stay tuned to the festival as events appear online at www.KauCoffeeFest.com and follow Ka‘u Coffee Festival on Facebook and @kaucoffeefest on Twitter and Instagram. Support is provided by Hawai‘i Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program.