| Governor Ige Signs Bill To Extend HDOA Subsidy Program through June 30, 2021
Bruce Corker, Sandra Scarr, Governor Ige, Christine Coleman, Jim Monk, and Suzanne Shriner
On June 30th at Holuakoa Gardens & Cafe, Governor Ige signed HB186 which extends the HDOA administered subsidy program for 2 additional years (to June 30, 2021). This program subsidizes coffee farmers’ purchases of Botanigard and Mycotrol to combat CBB. Unfortunately, in the bill’s final version out of the conference committee and approved by both houses (CD1), the funding section was stripped from the bill. The practical effect is that the subsidy program is extended for two additional years, but without additional subsidy funding. It is unclear how much of the original appropriation remains for the future years of the program.
Chemistry of Coffee Roasting
PART 2 – Flavor & to freeze or not to freeze…
We have had so many people tell us that roasted coffee beans should not be stored in the freezer. The web is full of similar recommendations. Based on the science of coffee roasting and taste, this appears to be misinformation.
If the only thing you’re interested in is whether to store roasted coffee in the freezer, I’ll cut to the chase here: You should freeze roasted coffee beans that you don’t intend to use in the first few days after roasting. Store roasted coffee beans in air-tight (which also means moisture-tight) low permeability containers (glass mason jars are excellent). Why? Well, that’s the point of this article.
In Part 1, we scratched the surface of coffee roasting chemistry. Now we’ll talk briefly about the concept of flavor and ask how to preserve flavor.
Ultimately, it is our individual palates that determine whether we like the results of the roasting process. Presumably, you’ll judge the result on the basis of the flavor of the coffee beverage of your choice. We’ll leave the tempting discussion about how the flavor is transferred to that beverage for another time. But let’s consider for a moment the perception of flavor. If you thought the chemistry of coffee roasting was complicated, just dig into the chemistry, biophysics, and brain science of flavor. The key point here is that the sensations produced by our taste buds and the aromas sensed by our olfactory receptors are inextricably connected to what we call flavor. If the olfactory component of food (think of curry or wine or coffee) is dulled or removed, the perceived flavor is entirely altered. And the last point to make here (oversimplified though it may be) is that the vast majority of compounds that we smell are volatile, that is, they are carried to our olfactory receptors in the air.
Therefore, to maintain the flavor of freshly roasted coffee, it is crucial that both taste and aroma components are protected. We need to carefully protect the volatile components that will evaporate out of the roasted beans, especially those we plan to use at some future date and we need to prevent unwanted chemical reactions (e.g. oxidation) from degrading flavor.
If you’re interested in digging into the sensation of “flavor” a bit more, here are a couple of fun sites to whet your appetite:
Now let us consider the question: how to best maintain the flavor of fresh-roasted coffee? The answer(s) are:
- Drink the coffee as soon after roasting as possible. One caveat is that some people believe that roasted coffee beans should be allowed to “rest” for a few hours because the most volatile compounds are not desirable flavor components and should be allowed to escape. Your call on that one.
- Transfer the roasted coffee beans to air & moisture tight containers as soon as possible to prevent volatile compounds from escaping and moisture from being absorbed. This applies to coffee you’ll use both sooner and later.
- Any roasted coffee beans you don’t intend to use in a few days should be stored (inside air tight containers) in a freezer to slow evaporation of volatile compounds and chemical degradation (oxidation). The rate of chemical reactions and evaporation of volatiles strongly depend on temperature and the colder you keep your roasted coffee beans the more you slow these processes. Thus a refrigerator is good and a freezer is better. Air tight containers also prevent the roasted coffee beans from absorbing flavors that may be floating around your freezer (remember, volatility decreases with temperature but is not eliminated).
- When you remove the coffee from the freezer, only take out what you need, reseal the container and return it to the freezer. NOTE: Our burr grinder handles frozen coffee beans for 1 pot of coffee without problem and when ground immediately we notice no appreciable condensation on the beans or in the grinder. When grinding larger quantities of beans, it may be advisable to allow the beans to reach room temperature before grinding (inside a sealed container to prevent condensation on the beans).
–by Bob Kraus (Chemistry Ph.D.)
Help for Honduran Farm Workers
The Honduran Consulate will be in Kailua-Kona, and will be renewing passports, offering first time passports, birth certificates, power of attorneys to their nationals and more!
Dates: July 8th and 9th
Time: 8am-5pm
Address: 75-5737 Kuakini Hwy Suite 104 Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 (Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce Building) next to McDonalds.
If there is anyone you know personally who would like to be added to the list of appointments, please have them call 808-895-2052 or adean@comunidadlatinadehawaii.com so that I may assist them with scheduling an appointment.
–Submitted by Suzanne Shriner
Articles on Benefits of Drinking Coffee
For years many viewed coffee drinking as an unhealthy addiction. Children were warned that drinking coffee (or consuming coffee-flavored ice cream) would stunt their growth.
Over the past fifteen years or so, however, scientists have offered a very different view—and a very positive view—of the effects of coffee drinking on human health and wellbeing. Recent scientific studies have almost uniformly been finding positive benefits—for example: living a longer life; increasing driver safety; preventing or lessening the effects of dementia; improved athletic performance; reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer recurrence; and more.
On May 31 the New York Times sent out an email with links to six different articles published by the Times between 2013 and 2017 reviewing recent findings on the effects of coffee drinking. This collection of articles makes very interesting reading. The following link provides links to each of the six articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/2017/05/31/well?nlid=51169295
Although not mentioned in any of the Times’ articles, it should be noted that residents of Hawaii have the greatest longevity of any of the 50 states. While not suggesting causation, many Kona coffee farmers believe there is a correlation between Hawaii’s longevity statistics and consumption of Kona coffee.
–Submitted by Bruce Corker
Seats Available for Korea Trade Mission
Tap into Korea’s large and growing consumer-oriented products’ market by participating in this Inbound Trade Mission. The Trade Mission is sponsored by the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA®) and the 13 Western State Departments of Agriculture (including HDOA).
With U.S. agricultural exports topping $7 billion in 2015, Korea is the fifth largest market for the U.S and a huge consumer of coffee. Recent changes in lifestyle and dietary culture have stimulated rapid growth of the food service and retail sectors in Korea, so now is a great time to take advantage of Korea’s free trade agreement to enter or expand your exports into the market.
Benefits of Participation:
Showcase your products and learn about opportunities and buyer preferences
Meet one-on-one with pre-qualified buyers
Gather current market intelligence, consumer preference, and trend information directly from the source
July 27 & 28, one-on-one meetings in Honolulu, HI
Fee to participate is only $15. https://www.wusata.org/event/detail/FD13E442-2EFD-47D1-A1D7-2569ECF49AA8/search/
To receive more info about events such as these, email Sharon.K.Hurd@hawaii.gov and request to be put on her farmers list.
–Submitted by Suzanne Shriner
Kona Road Construction in 1897
Here’s an 1897 article about our South Kona roads opening the land to coffee growers.
1897 Hawaiian Gazette
GOOD KONA ROADS
GOOD PROGRESS BEING MADE.
Surveyor Has Surveyed Coffee Land. Will Soon Be Occupied By Settlers.
W. A. Wall, the surveyor, returned on the Mauna Loa steamer yesterday, after having completed certain work in the coffee lands of Kona. He has been on the new Government road, now being built in the district and such work as is being carried on by Superintendent Bruner and those associated with him, he is perfectly competent to speak about.
In regard to this work, Mr. Wall said: “It will be a very fine thing when people can drive around the whole Island of Hawaii in a carriage. Think what an immense advantage it will be, particularly to those people who want to see, at their leisure, the various parts of the Island.
“Before talking about the present road being built from Kailua to Pahoehoe I might say something about the first roads built in the District of Kona. When L. A. Thurston was Minister of the Interior he caused to be built the road from Hookena, south, or from the landing to Pahoehoe. That was the first graded road in Kona. Then he started on another from a point about a mile above Kailua, towards Maguire’s ranch, but this was never finished. People could not get from the landing to the beginning of the road.
“Two years ago Superintendent Bruner built a road from Paris place [start of 2016 bypass], to Napoopoo. Before that he built a graded road from Kailua to HoIualoa.
“Now, as to the present road. This runs along from Kailua to Pahoehoe, about on an average of one mile from the coast line. It follows the Government road for a great part of the way, but deviates, notably from Paris’ place to Morgan’s coffee plantation, above Hookena, so that part of the road is two miles from the sea.
“While we are along the road, I might as well tell you a bit of history in connection with the Hookena road:
Kahinu was the man put in charge of this. The Government appropriated a certain sum of money to build this, and Nahinu exhausted it all building the road to his land. There the road stopped, and Nahinu was the only one benefited. Then Kuaimoku undertook to build a road from Hookena, and he followed Nahinu’s tactics, building the road to his land, no further. Of course, there was a kick, but the road was built and the money spent. As to the deviation in the new road from Paris’ to Morgan’s, I have something to say. The limit of the Keei coffee lands, which I have just finished surveying and dividing off, is just a little above the deviation. In all there are some 2,000 acres of the finest land which will undoubtedly be all occupied at the beginning of the year. Now, when the coffee planters have settled on their places they will, to be able to get to the landing at Napoopoo, have to go up hill to Paris place and then down on the old Government road, a distance of seven miles. This might not have been so, had the old road been followed, as in the case of the greater part of the way. As it is now, the only remedy is to build a road from the deviation to the present Napoopoo road, a distance of about two miles and a half, or a saving of about five miles. The people who settle on the land will be taxpayers and will very likely demand such a road as I speak about.
–Submitted by Joachim Oster
Preserving Your Farm for the Future
The Hawaiian Islands Land Trust (HILT) has launched an Agricultural Initiative to assist working farms and ranches in Hawaii keep their farms and ranches for future generations. Farmers and ranchers who own their lands fee simple may benefit from donating or selling an agricultural easement on their land to protect its agricultural use and conservation values including water resources, and historical or cultural sites. The agricultural easement is a voluntary deed restriction which is flexible and customized for each property and landowner. The agreements generally limit subdivision and other uses non-compatible with farming, while preserving the landowner’s rights to farm, sell, or pass the land on to children. There are several financial benefits that are potentially available to farmers or ranchers through the program.
HILT is a local non-profit land conservation organization that has worked with dozens of farmers and ranchers throughout Hawaii to protect their lands for future generations. For more information, please contact HILT at (808) 791-0729 or info@hilt.org.
–Submitted by Suzanne Shriner
August Independent Voice to be Delayed |
1897 Hawaiian Gazette
