 The Independent Voice
“Best Agricultural Newsletter in Hawaii”
Newsletter of the Kona Coffee Farmers Association
September 2020Â Â
PO Box 5436 Kailua Kona Hawaii 96745 USA
www.konacoffeefarmers.org  [email protected]
Contents
President Bondera’s Thoughts
KFCA Brand Coffee Program
CBB Pesticide Subsidy Program
Reciprocal Membership with Holualoa Village Ohana
Quote for the Day
Does Coffee Go Bad
International Odds & Ends
Recipe: Kim Chee
Editor – Clare Wilson
PRESIDENT’S THOUGHTSÂ
Aloha Kona Coffee Community Members:
With true respect, this message is to welcome all of you to a great year of success with coffee harvest and processing through the historical moment of a serious pandemic. Â My best wishes to all of you to make it as smooth as is viable for all involved.
While some rely on hired pickers to help with harvest, and there will be some difficulties with quarantine rules, together we will get through that component.  Though it is not simple, we will all adjust our marketing as required, since coffee is a, “need” across the world — so our coffee will continue to be consumed by those who need it to get by, so to speak!
Remember that, like with certified organic standards, a pandemic means that we have to pay attention to where all things (people, equipment, etc.) have been before, and any contamination between locations.  This is the same thinking that we had to apply with the “discovery” of CBB in terms of not transferring between farms, so follow basic transfer respect rules when receiving and sending on pickers — cleanliness, sterilization and basic respect.
Speaking of which, our new program to work with those who seek to sell coffee at a stage of green (instead of cherry, parchment or roasted), has taken form, and we need to make this work to secure market vitality for all of our members and all Kona coffee farms. Â Let us work together on this. Â Note that the ultimate intent is to have both a conventional and a certified organic final product which customers can choose between and KCFA can be a supporting foundation base.
Finally, while we have some difficulty shifting to a full virtual platform, and there is no certainty as to when the pandemic will allow in-person actual interaction again (such as actual cupping competitions), the full intent is to make our annual coffee EXPO happen via means which are useful and accessible for all current and prospective members and we welcome you letting us know how your needs can best be met in virtual format for the upcoming (albeit postponed) KCFA EXPO event!
Colehour Bondera, KFCA President
KCFA BRAND COFFEE PROGRAMÂ
The Kona Coffee Farmers Association still has funds on hand from a Hawai’i Dept of Agriculture grant to KCFA for Covid-19 relief. Â The funds are earmarked to be used to purchase green coffee from our farmer members to be roasted, bagged and marketed on-line and at future events as KCFA brand 100% Kona Coffee.
The program is intended to serve as a secondary market for some of our member farmer’s product, to promote and protect our heritage 100% Kona Coffee, as another member benefit and the revenue will be used to grow the fund for future green coffee purchases.
In order to roast, bag and market the freshest coffee, we will be purchasing green coffee from as many farms as possible in 10 pound lots from the coming harvest. Â If you don’t have that much harvested, processed and milled yet, we are putting in place a procedure whereby we can pay you the purchase price of $20 per pound now for delivery of Estate grade (Prime and above) green coffee at a future date.
We would like to extend our gratitude to the HDOA for their support and hope that many of our members will find this program helpful.
Please let us know if you would like to participate in this effort and/or if you would like to volunteer to help the Association implement the program. Email:Â [email protected].
–Submitted by KCFA Board of Directors
CBB PESTICIDE SUBSIDY PROGRAM
Aloha Coffee Farmers!
The new HDOA CBB Pesticide Subsidy Program application is up! It’s a great time to apply before the coffee harvest season gets busy! We are continuing to make the application Covid19 safe, so apply online, by email or by snail mail. Start here: https://hdoa.hawaii.gov/pi/main/cbbsubsidy/
This application applies to receipts from 7/1/19 – 6/30/20 which you can scan/photo and email in or mail in.  If you have questions, please email [email protected] or call 808-323-7578.
-Melanie Bondera
CBB Subsidy Program Coordinator
RECIPROCAL MEMBERSHIP WITH THE HOLUALOA VILLAGE OHANAÂ
Last month the KCFA renewed its reciprocal membership with the Holualoa Village Ohana (formerly the Holualoa Village Association) and the HVO has renewed its supporting membership in the KCFA.  For the past 5 years the HVO and the KCFA have been co-presenters of the annual Holualoa Coffee and Art Stroll–the premier event in West Hawaii celebrating Kona coffee.  As in years past, Holualoa galleries and shops will be encouraged to refer visitors who ask about coffee farm tours and visits to the KCFA website’s farm tour listings.  KCFA members are encouraged to suggest a stroll through Holualoa Village and its galleries and shops to visitors interested in a West Hawaii excursion.
–Submitted by Bruce Corker
QUOTE FOR THE DAYÂ
Sometimes I go hours without drinking coffee. It’s called sleeping.
–Submitted by John Koontz
DOES COFFEE GO BAD?Â
Katherine Gillen)
(Excerpts from PureWow.com)
The Answer is Complicated
Let’s say you stockpiled more coffee beans than you could possible consume in a month. No big deal, you’ll just set them aside for later. Except…does coffee go bad? Can you save those beans for a later date? Here’s the tea—er, coffee.
First things first: Does coffee go bad? Is it safe to drink expired coffee?
We have good news and bad news. The good news: No, coffee doesn’t really “go bad” in the way that bread grows mold or a banana slowly rots on your countertop. And drinking coffee made from old beans won’t make you sick, even if the expiration date has passed. (We can’t vouch for the taste, though.)
One small caveat: Dry coffee grounds and whole coffee beans won’t go bad or rot, but once you get those grounds wet, you can’t reuse them, and a pot of brewed coffee can go bad (read: grow mold) if you let it sit around long enough. The natural oils in coffee will go rancid over time, and no one wants rancid coffee…or week-old coffee, for that matter.
So, what’s the bad news? Coffee will lose quality over time. That’s because oxygen is the enemy of freshly roasted coffee beans (and grounds). Over time, exposure to air will cause your coffee to break down, losing flavor and intensity. Even though those beans won’t technically go bad, they’re still best consumed within three to four weeks of purchasing. And for ground coffee, aim to drink up within two weeks.
OK, so how can you prevent coffee from “going bad”?
Maintaining the freshness of coffee beans all comes down to storage. For starters, whole beans will last longer than pre-ground coffee, so grind the beans each time you brew if possible. And since oxygen is public enemy number one, you’ll want to store the coffee in an airtight container. If you want to keep it in its original bag, that’s fine, as long as you remember to compress all the air out of the bag and seal it tight. An airtight contain with a vacuum pump (like the OXO Pop containers) is our vessel of choice. Keep it away from heat and sunlight, too.
You might’ve heard that you should store coffee beans and grounds in the refrigerator or freezer to keep them tasty for longer. That’s actually *not* true, at least when it comes to the fridge. You see, coffee beans are absorbent. Store them in the fridge and any pungent odors (onions, garlic, last night’s leftovers) will get soaked right up. Not to mention the refrigerator will suck the moisture out of those beans, causing them to go stale even faster.
The freezer is preferable to the fridge for extended storage, but only if you do it correctly. Put the coffee in its original bag inside of a Ziploc bag, then compress the air out of it and put it in the freezer, where it can be stowed for a few months without fear of losing quality. When you’re ready to use the coffee, take it out of the freezer and allow it to thaw completely before brewing. Sounds easy, right? Just know that you can’t stick the coffee back in the freezer once its thawed, since the drastic changes in temperature can degrade the beans.
How should you store brewed coffee to keep it fresh?
If your morning plans include slowly working your way through and entire pot of java, the best way to keep it tasting delish is to brew it directly into a thermal carafe, which preserves the flavor and temperature. Don’t leave a fresh pot on the burner, unless you like the taste of burnt coffee. Brewed coffee can be stored in the fridge for three or four days—hello, iced coffee.
As for cold brew, it’ll keep for about a week in the fridge if stored in a lidded container. Happy drinking, y’all.
–Submitted by John Koontz
INTERNATIONAL ODDS & ENDSÂ
Coca-Cola With Coffee to officially hit US supermarket shelves in January 2021
MILAN – Coca-Cola With Coffee – which officially hits ready-to-drink coffee aisles nationwide in January 2021 – fuses the familiar, authentic taste of Coca-Cola with the rich, luxurious flavor of 100% Brazilian coffee. Three signature flavors – Dark Blend, Vanilla and Caramel – will be offered in 12-oz. cans.
“This is a truly unique…
Read More
Hawaii coffee producers face hard times with no help from federal relief program
MILAN – The congressional delegation from Hawaii has urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand its coronavirus relief program to include coffee farmers. Federal assistance in the form of a $16 billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) was funded through the CARES Act.
It provides COVID-19 relief to farmers, but coffee isnʻt included…
Read more
Here is what Latin American coffee growers are doing to adapt to climate change
EL DOVIO, Colombia – Alonso Carmona is running out of mountain. His coffee trees cover the highest reaches of his steeply sloping farm – but warming weather, bad prices and crop disease threaten to put that part of his farm out of business for good.
While other farmers across Latin America, which produces about…
Read more
Cabi helps Colombia’s coffee farmers tackle CBB with remote sensing technology
WALLINGFORD, UK – CABI scientists are working in partnership to help Colombia’s coffee farmers fight the devastating coffee berry borer (CBB) (Hypothenemus hampei) pest with an early warning system that harnesses climatic data and state-of-the-art remote sensing technology.
Dr Steven Edgington is leading the team at CABI, in collaboration with Cafexport, Colombia, Climate Edge,…
Read More
Coffee stains, coffee ring effect inspire optimal printing technique
CAMBRIDGE, UK – Have you ever spilled your coffee on your desk? You may then have observed one of the most puzzling phenomena of fluid mechanics – the coffee ring effect. This effect has hindered the industrial deployment of functional inks with graphene, 2D materials, and nanoparticles because it makes printed electronic devices behave irregularly.…
Read more
Finns Consume More Coffee Than Anywhere Else In The World — I Went To Finland To Find Out The Surprising Reason
ByCoffeeBUZZ
Posted on August 19, 2020 When thinking of Finland, many people might picture reindeer, saunas, and the Northern Lights above snowy Lapland.
One thing that isn’t widely associated with the Nordic country, however, is coffee.
But in fact, Finns consume more coffee per capita than people of any other nation, getting through 12 kilograms, or 26.45 pounds, a person each year, according to the International Coffee Organization.
Read More
–submitted by Cecelia Smith
RECIPE: KIM CHEE
RECIPES WANTED! If any of you have coffee recipes that you would like to share, please submit them to the editor: [email protected]
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! >> Write to us. We welcome Letters to the Editor up to 150 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Include your name and email address >> Email: [email protected] with SUBJECT: Commentary.
