My local Trader Joe's has Kauai peaberry on sale for about $7/pound. This is remarkably good coffee -- very close to Kona, for about 1/6 the price. If you've got a TJ's near you, I encourage you to try some.
We visited two coffee plantations in Hawaii. One was a traditional operation with lots of hand picking of ripe berries. This went into the usual branded premium kona brands. Coffee beans don't all ripen at the same time so picking needs to be done by hand.
The second was a modern, fully mechanized operation. They planted the trees in rows and used a variety that kept them at a reasonable height. They used a mechanical harvester that rode between the rows and over the tops of these relatively short trees. They picked all the berries. After picking the berries go to a mechanical separating machine where each is examined for color optically and sorted accordingly. The best ones were processed and shipped to suppliers who put their own branding on them. I wonder if these are the one's that ended up at Trader Joe's.
The less favorable ones were processed and sold to those who were looking for less expensive supplies.
I was surprised to see every single bean examined, but I've since learned that American rice packagers (like Uncle Ben) do the same thing with each grain of rice...
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Date: 2008-05-09 03:06 pm (UTC)The second was a modern, fully mechanized operation. They planted the trees in rows and used a variety that kept them at a reasonable height. They used a mechanical harvester that rode between the rows and over the tops of these relatively short trees. They picked all the berries. After picking the berries go to a mechanical separating machine where each is examined for color optically and sorted accordingly. The best ones were processed and shipped to suppliers who put their own branding on them. I wonder if these are the one's that ended up at Trader Joe's.
The less favorable ones were processed and sold to those who were looking for less expensive supplies.
I was surprised to see every single bean examined, but I've since learned that American rice packagers (like Uncle Ben) do the same thing with each grain of rice...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-05-10 09:06 pm (UTC)