When Wendell Branco contacted coffee processors in Kona about buying his Hamakua-grown coffee, they weren’t interested. The beans sat around in burlap bags in his drying room for three years until one day he brewed some up for a friend. What they discovered was a smooth-as-silk coffee that soon after became Long Ears Coffee. “We developed an aged coffee that is unique. I don't know anybody else who has aged coffee,” Branco says.
Curious by nature, he embarked on a historical hunt, trolling through Lyman Museum archives, obtaining documents from Bishop Museum and U.H. Manoa Hamilton Library, he discovered the rich history of coffee in Hamakua.
The story began in the 1820s when two missionaries, Sam Ruggles and Joseph Goodrich, brought Arabica coffee plants to Hawaii Island – the last of the islands to have them. Ruggles took coffee to Kona District and Goodrich traveled the Hamakua Coast up to Kohala, leaving coffee plants along the way. “All these gulches between here and Hilo got wild coffee,” Branco says.
The coffee was growing wild when the sugar plantations began in the 1870s but according to Branco, when the managers came with their families, they brought along their customs which included coffee breaks. “The workers that worked directly for the managers – the maids and lawn keepers —picked up on the coffee break thing,” Branco says.
Curious by nature, he embarked on a historical hunt, trolling through Lyman Museum archives, obtaining documents from Bishop Museum and U.H. Manoa Hamilton Library, he discovered the rich history of coffee in Hamakua.
The story began in the 1820s when two missionaries, Sam Ruggles and Joseph Goodrich, brought Arabica coffee plants to Hawaii Island – the last of the islands to have them. Ruggles took coffee to Kona District and Goodrich traveled the Hamakua Coast up to Kohala, leaving coffee plants along the way. “All these gulches between here and Hilo got wild coffee,” Branco says.
The coffee was growing wild when the sugar plantations began in the 1870s but according to Branco, when the managers came with their families, they brought along their customs which included coffee breaks. “The workers that worked directly for the managers – the maids and lawn keepers —picked up on the coffee break thing,” Branco says.
Eventually when plantation workers were given homestead land, they took the wild coffee plants up mauka (towards the mountains) and began their own coffee farms. Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, coffee in Hamakua quickly became an important crop, second only to sugar, which occupied the lower elevations, while coffee was grown above 1500 feet.
The growers were made up of clusters of small plantations as well as high- volume producers such as William H. Rickard, who praised the coffee growing qualities of Hamakua in a Nov. 24, 1886 interview with The Hawaiian Gazette. “I may be prejudiced in favor of Hamakua, but really from what I have seen, there is no place to beat it for raising really good coffee,” he said. “I have good prospects, if trees loaded down with berries are an indication. I know that other districts where the trees are the same age as mine, they have a quarter of a pound of coffee to the tree, while mine have five pounds.”
The growers were made up of clusters of small plantations as well as high- volume producers such as William H. Rickard, who praised the coffee growing qualities of Hamakua in a Nov. 24, 1886 interview with The Hawaiian Gazette. “I may be prejudiced in favor of Hamakua, but really from what I have seen, there is no place to beat it for raising really good coffee,” he said. “I have good prospects, if trees loaded down with berries are an indication. I know that other districts where the trees are the same age as mine, they have a quarter of a pound of coffee to the tree, while mine have five pounds.”
Another large grower, the Louisson Brothers, Henry and Abe, had about 200 acres of coffee Paauilo mauka, where the Vanilla Factory is now located. The plantation was visited by Jack and Charmian London sometime before 1918, when Charmian’s book “Jack London and Hawaii” was published.
Of their visit to the Louisson plantation London wrote, “We hadn’t been in Mr. Abe’s [Louisson] high basemented cottage for half an hour when he had us out among his magnificent coffee plants; and we learned that a coffee plantation can be one of the prettiest places under heaven, with its polished dark green foliage, head high and over crowded with red jewels of berries. And nowhere have we seen such luxuriant growth of coffee noir. The after dinner coffee was unequaled in our experience.”
As of 1913 the large quantities of coffee to be transported to market were carried by the Hilo Railroad, that ran from Hilo to Paauilo. The farmers up mauka brought the coffee to the rail head in Paauilo and from there it went into Hilo and then on to California,” Branco says. Backed by Benjamin Dillingham and others, the project went into foreclosure in 1916 when it was bought by Theo Davis and renamed the Hawai`i Consolidated Railway.
Coffee thrived into the 1930s and 1940s, but by the 1950s the market had died down in Hamakua. When the 1946 tsunami wiped out large sections of the Hamakua railroad line, it was almost impossible for farmers to transport their coffee to market. Also, Hawai`i coffee was no longer competitive on the world market, reducing profits.
Of their visit to the Louisson plantation London wrote, “We hadn’t been in Mr. Abe’s [Louisson] high basemented cottage for half an hour when he had us out among his magnificent coffee plants; and we learned that a coffee plantation can be one of the prettiest places under heaven, with its polished dark green foliage, head high and over crowded with red jewels of berries. And nowhere have we seen such luxuriant growth of coffee noir. The after dinner coffee was unequaled in our experience.”
As of 1913 the large quantities of coffee to be transported to market were carried by the Hilo Railroad, that ran from Hilo to Paauilo. The farmers up mauka brought the coffee to the rail head in Paauilo and from there it went into Hilo and then on to California,” Branco says. Backed by Benjamin Dillingham and others, the project went into foreclosure in 1916 when it was bought by Theo Davis and renamed the Hawai`i Consolidated Railway.
Coffee thrived into the 1930s and 1940s, but by the 1950s the market had died down in Hamakua. When the 1946 tsunami wiped out large sections of the Hamakua railroad line, it was almost impossible for farmers to transport their coffee to market. Also, Hawai`i coffee was no longer competitive on the world market, reducing profits.
Long Ears Coffee Co.
After he learned that Japanese plantation workers had taken coffee seedlings to plant on their homesteads, Branco went up Paauilo mauka looking to buy beans. There he found coffee still being grown by a group of descendants of those first generation plantation workers. The growers were mistrustful at first, but they eventually made found Mieko Fujimoto.
“Mieko was the contact. She was the spokesman for all of these people. She told me where to go and said, ‘Tell them I sent you’,” Branco says. It was the beginning of a productive partnership. “When we started out in 2000 we bought coffee from all of these Japanese coffee farmers. In any calendar year from 2000 up until six years ago, we purchased 60,000 pounds of cherry every year. We had a very good relationship with the farmers,” Branco says.
Soon, he began to hear their intrepid stories. “Michiko Uyeda came from Japan. Her husband was local. He went to Japan, married her and brought her home. His was one of the old coffee farms, so she came here and there was coffee all over the plantation and grass about as tall as the house. Every single day she cried all day long. There was no way out for her, so she started cleaning and crying, cleaning and crying and finally just gave up crying and just cleaned and she developed about five acres of coffee,” Branco says.
After he learned that Japanese plantation workers had taken coffee seedlings to plant on their homesteads, Branco went up Paauilo mauka looking to buy beans. There he found coffee still being grown by a group of descendants of those first generation plantation workers. The growers were mistrustful at first, but they eventually made found Mieko Fujimoto.
“Mieko was the contact. She was the spokesman for all of these people. She told me where to go and said, ‘Tell them I sent you’,” Branco says. It was the beginning of a productive partnership. “When we started out in 2000 we bought coffee from all of these Japanese coffee farmers. In any calendar year from 2000 up until six years ago, we purchased 60,000 pounds of cherry every year. We had a very good relationship with the farmers,” Branco says.
Soon, he began to hear their intrepid stories. “Michiko Uyeda came from Japan. Her husband was local. He went to Japan, married her and brought her home. His was one of the old coffee farms, so she came here and there was coffee all over the plantation and grass about as tall as the house. Every single day she cried all day long. There was no way out for her, so she started cleaning and crying, cleaning and crying and finally just gave up crying and just cleaned and she developed about five acres of coffee,” Branco says.
About six years ago, Branco stopped buying coffee, downsizing and shifting to just using the coffee they grow on their property. “We don't buy so we don't have the volume that we used to,” he says. “But we still have loyal customers.” Just like the enduring coffee plant, the Hamakua coffee growing traditions quietly carry on.
Long Ears Coffee Co. is located in Ahualoa, in the hills above Honokaa. Tours are available by request, including a demonstration of the entire process, from growing the beans on the coffee trees, to how to harvest the coffee "cherry" pulp, drying, husking and custom roasting. Also available online at www.longearscoffee.com.
Long Ears Coffee Co. is located in Ahualoa, in the hills above Honokaa. Tours are available by request, including a demonstration of the entire process, from growing the beans on the coffee trees, to how to harvest the coffee "cherry" pulp, drying, husking and custom roasting. Also available online at www.longearscoffee.com.
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